


Paint Me a Picture

by orphan_account



Series: Life Sketches [1]
Category: MotoGP RPF, Motorcycling RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, M/M, PWP, trigger warning: pregnancy issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-05-30 23:27:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 65
Words: 92,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6446467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a young artist befriends the newest model at her small school, her entire world is opened up when he introduces her to his various friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Those Brown Eyes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Racing_BlackAndPurple_Flowers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Racing_BlackAndPurple_Flowers/gifts).



> My first attempt at Fanfic in a number of years. Please be gentle with me. Dedicated/Inspired to/by Racing_BlackAndPurple_Flowers, from whom this story sprung from many conversations.

Running late to the preeminent (and only) art college in La Massana, Eliza cursed once more at her smart phone for failing to remind her of the class-date switch.  Her portfolio swinging wildly behind her like some sort of convoluted wing or cape, she skidded to a halt in front of the doors, icy roads nearly propelling her past the building.

“For fucks sakes!”  She hissed, frustrated, her American upbringing becoming glaringly obvious to those around her.

Soon enough though she was inside the small but cozy building, finding her way to the classroom where they were to once again recreate the image of a local model.  It probably was the same poor lad again, one small hand covering equally small ‘parts’, looking like a sorry attempt at a Michelangelo.

But when Elia slid into the classroom she was surprised to find a different smiling face greeting her, a friendly, “Hola!” disrupting the rest of the class from their work, to their general concertation.

“Hola.”  She breathed softly, moving to settle into her seat even as her eyes trailed over this new man.  He’d elected to remain partially clothed, with boxer-briefs still on (and not hiding a hell of a lot, either!), but she heard the instructor muttering in low Spanish, with a rough translation Eliza knew meant she was going to hear it more after the class.

Before long however, she found her eyes mesmerized by the man, the body, in front of her, especially when he kept looking her way and winking.  He truly did have beautiful eyes, she conceded, and going against her normal grain, she began a sketch out of his face alone, the wide easy smile, the deep yet happy brown eyes, the dimples that formed every time his face lit up into a grin.

Drawing, erasing, drawing, erasing…Eliza eventually reached into her satchel to grab her colored pencils, to better able to chisel out the plains of this man’s face.  It was going to take her several shades of brown to match his eyes, she realized, and though that normally would have annoyed her, she found herself looking forward to the challenge.

As she found happened all too often in these courses, the instructor rang the bell indicating the artistic element of the class had ended, and they were onward to presentation.  Pulling his clothes back on, the young man then proceeded to circle the room, situating himself, Eliza realized, so that she would be the last he encountered.

Blushing a bit at that, she finally shyly offered up her artwork to him when he approached, smiling a bit more when a smile curled over his lips.  “Que haya capturado mi cara bien,” he told her and Eliza made a bit of a face while her mind raced to translate the words, finally understanding he was complimenting the way she’d drawn his face.  “Gracias.  Tienes…ojos…hermosos?”  She ventured at him, and his eyes flashed in understanding.

“English?”  He asked, smoothly switching languages, and Eliza stared at him in shock.  “My normal job…required I learn it.”

“Yes, English, oh thank you.”  Giving him a relieved smile, Eliza continued shyly, “My Spanish is rather…Tarzen-ish.  I can somewhat figure things out, but my brain doesn’t really process it quite well yet…”

The man gave her an understanding smile and held his hand out to her, telling her, “My name is Ricard, but all of my friends call me Ricky.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ricky…”  She told him, and glancing out of the corner of the eye and noticing her instructor hovering, ready to give her the tongue lashing for being late and disruptive, Eliza asked him under her breath, “Hey, do you want to get out of here?  If I stick around much longer I’m going to get yelled at…”

Looking at her drawing and then back up into hopeful blue eyes, Ricky nodded at her, voice just as soft as hers had been.  “I’m supposed to be meeting some friends for some drinks, but I’d not mind the company.  I never mind a pretty beard anyways.”  And off of Eliza’s furrowed brow, he explained even softer, “I’m gay.  In a long term relationship.  But some people – not my friends, mind you – don’t approve.”

“You shouldn’t have to hide,” Eliza retorted softly even as she started to tuck the drawing into her portfolio, only to have Ricky’s hand stop her from putting it away.

“Would you consider letting me have that?  I think my lover would love the way you captured my eyes.”

Biting hard on her lip, Eliza eventually nodded, telling him, “I’d like to finish it up more first, if that’s okay with you…”

“Deal.”  Ricky agreed as his eyes crinkled happily.  Offering her his arm to slide hers through, he quickly tugged her from the building, even as they could both hear her instructor protesting behind them, much to his laughter.  As they exited the building, Ricky asked her, “Do you need to drop off your materials before you go out?”

Eliza nodded her head, and Ricky’s hand slid easily into her free one, leading her to blush even despite his sexual orientation.

Her evening may have started out rather boring and normal, but it was showing promise to be anything but!


	2. Bona Nit

It wasn’t too much longer after they’d left her class that Eliza and Ricky were slipping, sliding, and giggling into a bar still in the heart of La Massana. Pushing open the heavy wooden door and hearing the entire lot of people let out a collective breath at the cold air, Ricky led Eliza to a table tucked in the back where two other men and a young woman were waiting.

“Vostè finalment va aparèixer!” The woman teased, even as her eyes landed on the hand tucked tightly in Ricky’s. “I qui és ella?”

Ricky released Eliza’s hand at the question, almost to her disappointment, and told the rest of the group, “English if you’d please. Her Spanish isn’t that great, and I’d imagine her Catalan is non-existent.” Off Eliza’s blushing nod, Ricky reached for her hand again to give it a reassuring squeeze. “Sorry we’re late, we had to stop off at her flat.” And eyes dancing, Ricky teased, “She even showed me her bedroom.”

Promptly swatting Ricky but giggling in embarrassment, Eliza retorted, “Oh be quiet. I’d hardly say you standing in the doorway of my studio apartment is showing you my bedroom.”

Grinning, Ricky slid into the open booth, indicating she should follow, which she did. Almost as soon as her butt landed on cushion, the manicured hand of the other woman reached across the table to her, telling her, “I’m Laura … this is my husband, Aleix, and his brother, Pol. Sometimes known as Polyccio, tonight just known as a big pouting baby.”

“Be quiet, Lau.” The one named Pol cranked, even as he looked up at their new group member, giving her a quick once over before his attention returned to his sister-in-law. “I think I am allowed to be in a bad mood given that I’m single.”

“Again.” Aleix chirped as he easily avoided his brother’s punch, Pol exposing the underside of his wrist as he went for the hit.

“Ooooh…tattoo. May I see?” Eliza asked with hopeful eyes, even as the rest of them looked at her curiously. Ducking her head a bit, the shyness coming back out in full force, she explained, “I’m an art student. I have an appreciation for fine art…”

“Funny you didn’t comment on or draw MY tattoo…” Ricky huffed and Eliza elbowed him once more.

“Keep that up and the next time you’re in there I’ll just draw you in your tented boxer-briefs at the feel of all those attractive people’s eyes on you!”

“Modest, you are.” He teased, surprised when only a tiny smile quirked her lips.

“I never said I was one of the attractive ones.” And before he could comment again, Eliza was holding out her hand across the table, silently beckoning Pol to let her see his wrist. Whistling softly, her thumb traced over the delicate lines, the kangaroo inspired pattern urging him not to give up. Finally, she reluctantly let go of his hand, offering him softly, “Take your own advice. If it’s meant to be, it will. If it’s not…”

Pol smiled a bit more at that though he did reach for his beer, taking a healthy swig. “Let’s not talk about her tonight. She’s not worth it.”

~*~

Several more beers imbibed than she normally would have, but feeling confident that Ricky wouldn’t let anything happen to her, Eliza giggled at Laura telling the story of Pol driving in the tiny little car into their wedding with the cake trailing behind. “Brother in law or not, I’d have had to kill him if he’d tipped the cake!”

Huffing again, Pol just crossed his arms across his chest, the movement causing his shirt to rise up enough for another tattoo to be visible, and Eliza just stared at it and him for the longest time, finally asking him, “Whyyyyyyyyyy do you have a number tattoo’d on your hip?”

“To be fair, I do too…” Aleix grinned at Eliza as she just furrowed her brow and they started chuckling at her. “Ricky, I’m guessing you didn’t tell her your real job?”

Shrugging a bit, not feeling all that confident of the state of his career at the moment, he looked over at her and explained, “I…we….are professional motorcycle riders. Ever heard of MotoGP? We compete in it. Well…these two do…I compete in a lower series, Moto2.”

“Racing…motorcycles…? Huh…” Eliza looked them all over and hiccupped unexpectedly, making them all chuckle at her again. “Is it fun? The last time I was in the States for any length of time, I watched some IndyCar and NASCAR for the adrenaline rush. That and they’re kinda fun to draw…”

Eyes dancing for perhaps the first time all night, Pol told her, “It’s exactly that, an adrenaline rush. We go up and over 300 km/h, leaning our bikes over so low that our elbows and knees are scraping the ground. And we’re doing this with 20 other bikes out there at the same time, all trying to accomplish the same thing we are – win the damn race.”

“That sounds neat…are there any races here in Andorra?”

“No, the closest race is just outside of Barcelona, and isn’t for several months, not until the weather warms up.”

“Oh.” Eliza pouted a bit in an unknowing fair imitation of Pol earlier in the evening. “Ah well then. Maybe if I transfer back to the academy in Barcelona, I’ll be able to go to a race. So long as I’m living here though, I don’t think my schedule will allow it. In fact…” Glancing at her watch and trying to make sense of the blurry numbers, she finally just shrugged a bit and continued, “It’s probably late. I should head home. I’ve got work in the morning, class in the evenings again. But it was nice meeting you all…”

Surprisingly them all, and perhaps even himself, it was Pol who asked, “Can we see you again? You’re good company…”

Blushing, and wanting to shake her head at the thought of being good company, Eliza finally just nodded her head shyly, telling them in a soft voice, “If that’s what you want.”

Nudging his brother under the table, it was Aleix who spoke next even after giving his brother the briefest of evil looks. “We want. You’re obviously not here because of who we are or what we do, and you’re fun.”

Eliza quirked a bit of a smile at the brothers Espargaro, then turned her attention to Ricky, asking him, “Could you walk me home? I think I’m a bit too tipsy to manage it on my own.”

“Of course, m’lady,” He told her, bowing down slightly and earning another round of giggles from the ladies at the table. Nudging her butt with his own, Ricky waited until she was standing to wrap an arm around her waist, steadying her footing. “And on that note, I’m off guys. Bona nit.”

At the chorus of ‘Bona Nit’s following him out the door, Ricky and Eliza wandered off back in the direction of her studio apartment, never seeing or realizing that Pol had snuck to the door to see which way they were heading.


	3. Just a Boring Girl

Head foggy, and moving much slower than she would have liked, Eliza smoothed the front of her maid’s uniform, not one of the typical French maid style, but still one that made her occupation quite clear. She was meeting a new client this morning – the Espargaros, her manager had told her. She knew nothing further of the couple beyond that they lived in a nice neighborhood of La Massana, and had pets.

Pets of course would mean footprints likely to be cleared off the ground, meaning her on her hands and knees scrubbing a floor. She could understand why someone who could afford their services wouldn’t want to be bothered with that, especially this time of year with the snow.

With her little Renault loaded to the brim with her supplies, Eliza drove herself to the address in question, whistling softly at the neighborhood filled with pretty houses that greeted her. It almost reminded her of a suburban neighborhood in the States, the kind she’d only seen on field trips or other adventures out of her inner-city home.

She still couldn’t believe that a little girl from the ‘hood had done some of the things she had done – the scholarships she’d received that brought her across the pond, first to Paris, where her French was at least serviceable. The next year found Eliza in Barcelona, where she received a crash course in Spanish, learning some by immersion, but mostly relying on the kindness of strangers who recognized her predicament.

It was this newest year though that she was enjoying the most – the tiny country of Andorra, separating the borders of France and Spain, was simply beautiful everywhere she looked. And given the amount of English tourists the area saw, there were plenty of people who spoke English, or at least spoke it better than her Spanish!

Settling herself in and smoothing out any imaginary wrinkles from her outfit, Eliza moved to exit her vehicle and grab her supplies, and approached the front door. In pressing the doorbell, she heard twin barks and scampering footsteps approaching the door – beagles from the sounds of it – and eventually heard a now familiar voice chastising the dogs in what she recognized was Catalan.

So when Laura finally opened the door, Eliza attempted to look confident in the face of the other woman’s shock, voice soft but simple. “I understand you’ve hired on maid service?”

“Eliza? You’re our maid?” Came the still shocked voice of Laura. When Eliza nodded to the affirmative, Laura shook her head a bit, both hands still on beagle collars to hold them back, telling her, “This wasn’t what I pictured for you when you said you had a daytime job. I thought you’d work in one of the museums or maybe teach art at the local schools…”

Trying not to let her embarrassment show, even knowing her ears were red, Eliza stood up tall, voice still soft but somewhat confident in response. “Have to pay the bills somehow. And I’m good at what I do. So if you’ll give me a tour and show me what you’re looking to have done, I can get to work…”

If Laura thought about commenting further, she instead took the route of keeping her mouth shut, letting the dogs go roam and beginning to give Eliza her tour.

~*~

Sometime after lunch, after Eliza had scoured the front hallway to shiny perfection and had moved on to giving the bathrooms a thorough cleaning, she heard the front door open, feet stomping, and the sounds of another set of paws rampaging through the house. Cringing, and peering her head outside the bathroom door, she wasn’t all that surprised to find both Aleix and Pol standing in the hallway, ski outfits on and talking animatedly with their hands and in Catalan.

Rather than make them aware of her presence, she ducked back into the bathroom, standing in the shower stall and using her extended brush to scrub the tiles clean. But before too long, Pol’s head popped into the bathroom, head tilted sideways in confusion, and asking her, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m a maid.” Eliza answered with as much pride as she could muster. “Your brother and sister-in-law hired my firm to provide cleaning services – so that’s what I’m here for – to clean.”

“Oh.” Pol said, not looking quite certain how to best take in that information, and after shifting around a little in an almost dance, he asked her, “Would you mind if I used the bathroom? I’ve really got to go…”

Giving him a small smile and a teasing huff, she told him, “I JUST cleaned that. No making messes!”

“I promise!” Pol retorted as he danced a little more and they exchanged spots in the room, Eliza exiting to the hallway and rocking back and forth on her feet as she waited for Pol to do his thing. He really did have to go, she mused when he finally came out a few minutes later, a rather relieved look on his face and eyes glowing impishly. “Everything as clean as when I got in there…just as I promised!” Giving him a smile, Eliza went to go back into the bathroom when Pol’s hand caught her by the arm, forcing her to turn around and raise her eyebrows at him in silent question. Finding an almost shy looking Pol gazing back at her, he asked softly, “Listen, I know this is kind of sudden, and we don’t really know each other all that well, but would you like to go out sometime? I think I’d like to get to know you better…”

Giving him a shy shrug of her own, Eliza answered back, “If you’re sure that’s what you want. I’m not sure I’m all that interesting or all that great company, but I guess we could go out sometime…if you don’t mind it being after my classes, or on the rare night I get off…”

“I’d like that...a lot…” Pol told her, finally letting go of her arm even as his fingertips slid down her forearm and wrist and ghosted over her hand. “You don’t care who we are or what we do…you’re normal. I like that. It would be a welcome change from my ex, who I think enjoyed spending my money more than she did being with me…”

Gazing down at her arm where the hair still stood on edge from where Pol had touched her, she finally raised blue eyes to hazel, holding his gaze and wondering if he’d felt the electricity in that simple touch, too. Finally speaking, her voice soft, Eliza said to him, “I’m just a boring girl from the States. I don’t think I’m that interesting. But I’ll never say no to good company.”

Giving her such a wide, beautiful smile that his eyes crinkled, Pol bounced on his feet a little bit before turning back towards the front hallway, pausing about halfway through his turn to ask her, “Do you have time to join us for lunch? We’re only here for a bit before we go back to the mountain.”

Glancing at her watch, Eliza nodded shyly, telling him, “I’d like that.”

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Pol led them off to the kitchen, where Aleix was already cooking. Eliza still wasn’t sure what to make of these new people in her life, the sudden excitement in her usually boring life, but she found she liked it.

And really, that was all that mattered.


	4. Just Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, the feedback whore in me would love to hear what people think of this story. It's something different for me, and the silence is deafening me...

Long after the boys had left to go back to the mountain to romp around, Eliza was still on her hands and knees, once again scouring the entry hall to the Espargaro’s house. And while Laura had chastised the boys for not cleaning off their feet better before coming in, Eliza really didn’t mind the work, especially since Laura was hovering around, asking her about her impending date with Pol.

“What are you planning on wearing?”

“I dunno…” Eliza answered, looking up from the floor where the final traces of mud were disappearing. “I was thinking slacks and a nice sweater. Is that appropriate for where he’s taking me?”

“Oh yes, that would be perfect. What about your hair, are you going to leave it up, put it down…?”

Tilting her head thoughtfully, Eliza told her, “I hadn’t really given it that much thought. But it is a date, isn’t it? And it’s been a long time since I’ve been on one…”

“Don’t be nervous…” Laura told her immediately, leaning to rest a hand on her shoulder. “When he’s not being cranky or a total goofball, Pol is quite the gentleman. Their mama raised her boys properly.”

“That’s good to know…” Eliza replied with a shy smile. “I still can’t believe he wants to take me of all people out. I’m boring and plain…”

“Stop that.” Laura told her immediately. "You’ve got beautiful eyes, and I bet your hair looks fabulous down. And not only that, I can already tell in the short time we’ve known you that you have a sweet, kind-hearted disposition. You’re not stuck up or focused on his wealth like his ex was…”

Shrugging a bit, Eliza gave Laura another small smile before turning her attention back to the floor, leaning hard against her rag to get the last bits of embedded mud up off the floor. “There.” She said with a satisfied sigh. “Now it doesn’t look like a head of elephants came tramping through here.”

Shaking her head slightly, Laura retorted, “It may look fantastic now, but as soon as Aleix comes home, especially since he’ll have Eina while we watch her for Pol, and it’ll be a mess all over again…”

Once more shrugging in Laura’s direction, Eliza replied, “At least my job is done for now.” Taking a deep sigh she rose to her feet, starting to sort her things back into their proper places so she could get ready to leave and head back to her apartment. “I just hope I won’t disappoint Pol.”

“You won’t,” Laura assured her. “You saw the way he was bouncing around at lunch time. That was all due to you…”

Giving Laura another shy little smile, Eliza just ducked her head and continued to pack up her stuff.

~*~

Arriving back at her apartment later than she intended, Eliza was surprised to find Pol waiting outside for her, pacing a bit, and with flowers in hand. He too was in slacks and a nice sweater, and she couldn’t help but notice the way his eyes lit up when he realized she had arrived home.

“Hi, sorry I’m late. I was cleaning up the entry way again in your brother and sister-in-law’s house….” Eliza told him shyly as she accepted the flowers when he offered him. “Come on inside…that way you can stay warm while I get ready to go…”

Beaming a bright smile at her, Pol settled his hand on her back, making Eliza tremble slightly from the warmth that spread outward at his touch. As he followed her inside, he teased playfully, “Now Ricky won’t be the only one to say he’s seen your bedroom!”

“Oh hush.” Eliza retorted, her cheeks flaming red, the thought of any guy in her bedroom proper making her nervous and excited all at once. She’d never had a real boyfriend before, never engaged in any sort of sexual relations, and the thought that someone might like her enough to want to be with her made her tremble even more.

Making himself comfortable on her bed as she scurried around, Pol simply watched Eliza, noting that the blush never quite left her cheeks, and that her eyes occasionally darted in his direction. “I don’t bite sweetheart. Not unless you want me to at least…” And his eyes danced as he added the second part, even as Eliza’s cheeks went noticeably redder.

Sliding off into the bathroom with clothes in hand, Eliza didn’t take too long to get dressed, or put a small amount of make-up on – really, just mascara – and to unknot her hair and brush it out, leaving her shoulder-length coppery-bronze locks waving and curling around her face. Once finished, she took a deep breath and exited the bathroom, finding Pol’s eyes locked on the doorway that she came out from. “I think I’m ready,” She told him shyly.

Feeling her face go even more crimson if possible as he looked her up and down, Pol asked her, “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are? Your hair looks amazing like that…”

“No, no one has.” She admitted softly, eyes downcast and unable to look him in the eye. So she was surprised to find him suddenly in front of her, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips to kiss it gently.

“Well you are. Come on, let’s go out, have ourselves a nice evening, and see where things go from there.”

Cheeks still as crimson as they ever were, Eliza just nodded at Pol and let him take her by the hand to lead her outside and to his car.

~*~

It **really** was a nice dinner. And Eliza couldn’t remember having that much fun – or laughing that hard – with just one person since…well…never. Pol was exceeding any expectations she might have had for him, just being the gentleman that Laura had said he would be – pulling her chair out for her, opening her car door, even escorting her into the local restaurant with her arm through his elbow.

The food was delicious, but Eliza never had any clue what the cost may have been because Pol scooped up the bill too quickly. Facing the prospect of an early end to a wonderful evening, it was Pol who suggested they hit up one of the local hot spots and spend a few hours dancing before he dropped her back at her apartment.

And dance they did, sometimes at arm’s length and just chuckling softly at the stories or soft jokes Pol would tell. Sometimes they danced with Eliza’s arms around Pol’s neck, her head on his shoulder and his arms wrapped low at her hips, but still holding her tightly to him. When the music picked up Pol swung her around and made her feel like they were making a spectacle, but she was having too much fun to really care.

After a few drinks and 2 sets of tired feet, Pol and Eliza finally conceded the night was to end. And once more he escorted her to his car, opening the door for her before letting himself in. She rested her head on his shoulder across the seats and both blushed and smiled when Pol turned to kiss the top of her head.

All too soon they were pulling up at her apartment building, standing face to face, both trying to figure out if a kiss would be appropriate, but after a moment Eliza just leaned in, her arms ending back around Pol’s neck again as her eyes drifted shut and a soft breath exhale when the kiss finally finished. Kissing her hand again as he slowly pulled away, Pol eyes were on her all the way to his car, until he finally had to climb in, and even then a hand rose out of the window in the cold to wave at her.

Eliza had never given much thought to people who said love at first sight was possible but she was beginning to change her stance on that particular train of thought.


	5. Disappointment

In the few days since Eliza’s date with Pol, she’d found her time to be surprisingly uneventful. She’d not heard from him at all, not even a text message, and though she was disappointed, it wasn’t completely unexpected it, either.

In fact, the only text she had received recently was from Ricky, letting her know he’d be modeling again, and what date, so that she could bring back her sketch and continue to work on it. She knew Ricky was excited about that – he’d told her over and over again how fantastic the artwork was, and how very talented she was, much to her embarrassment.

And so on the night of Ricky’s modeling, Eliza arrived early, making sure she could get a good seat that would best give her a view of Ricky’s face, knowing him well enough now to know that he’d be winking at her and otherwise showing attention her way. She arrived so early in fact that she beat him there, getting a chance to watch him strip out of his clothes when he did arrive.

Teasingly, Eliza whistled at Ricky as he stripped, this time turning the tables on him and making him blush instead. Soon enough the class was starting and Eliza focused on Ricky’s face, his lashes, the plains of his cheekbones, and every other tiny little detail that made the drawing more and more realistic the further along on it she progressed.

When the teacher finally rang the bell to conclude the class, Ricky dressed then came straight to her, grinning widely at seeing the progress she had made. “Come back to my place after this?” He asked her, and had she not known he was gay, she would have blushed profusely at the offer. Instead, knowing his suggestion was completely platonic, Eliza returned his grin with one of her own, nodding her agreement and packing up her things.

Soon enough Ricky was driving them out into another nice neighborhood in La Massana similar to where the Espargaro’s lived. Eliza was surprised by the size of the house, which considerably dwarfed the Espargaro home, and on her curiously raised eyebrow, Ricky explained, “My best friend owns the place, rents it to me cheaply so that I can live here…”

“Nice friend.” Eliza replied, following Ricky into the house and admiring the red and white leather furniture. “It’s a beautiful place.”

“I know. I’m lucky to live here. He lives in Switzerland now, could quite easily sell this place, but it gives him some place to stay when he’s in town to ski.”

“Does he race Moto2, too?” Eliza asked as they settled on opposite pieces of furniture, her sketchbook still in hand and ready to continue the portrait of Ricky.

“No, he’s in MotoGP…one of the best in the world as it were. He’s a champion. Gets booed a lot though because people don’t understand him. He’s really a lot like you – shy and artistic, but proud of what he’s done and accomplished.” Ricky explained, giving Eliza another smile as she started sketching him once more.

“Maybe I’ll get to meet him sometime.” She murmured as she continued to draw, so focused on her artwork that she failed to notice Ricky grabbing an iPad and connecting to Facetime until she looked up to see his face obscured by the electronics. “Who you talking to? The best friend?”

Blushing slightly, Ricky shook his head and beckoned Eliza over to his couch, waiting until she had settled beside him to say, “Eliza, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend Jonathan. Jonathan, this is the girl I’d been telling you about, the one doing the beautiful artwork of me…”

The face on the screen gave her a wave, seemingly not the least bit surprised by the conversation switching to English, and he proved to be yet another one who flawlessly spoke the language. “Nice to finally meet you Eliza. I can’t wait to see the finished product of my Ricky. Will give me something to look at when I’m over here across the pond.” Tilting her head slightly at that, Jonathan explained, “I work for Jorge Lorenzo as his financial advisor. I live in New York City, working the stock market…”

“I grew up in Washington, DC.” Eliza told him, finding him as easy and comfortable to talk to as Ricky, understanding immediately why the two were so good for each other. “Not the best of neighborhoods, but I managed to get to good art schools, and thanks to scholarships have been able to travel some of Europe…”

As Jonathan nodded his head, she watched his eyes drift adoringly over to Ricky again, and she took the hint to exit the room and the conversation, heading off to the kitchen to see what Ricky had in the fridge.

She owed it to him to have some privacy while he chatted to his lover.

~*~

After Jonathan and Ricky hand ‘hung up’ and Eliza had made her and Ricky pasta and chicken, they got to talking about the previous few days and what had been going on in their worlds.

“Someone egged my apartment complex a few days ago … it was a mess. All frozen egg guts all over the place. I called the landlord, but he was already aware of it and was going to have someone come over and clean it up for us. I’m just glad that whoever it was left the cars alone.”

“Ugh, what a mess. What’s wrong with people who do shit like that?” Ricky inquired, shaking his head even as he stuffed his mouth full of food.

“Great question, it had come off such a nice night too, so it was a little disturbing to wake up to. At least as you know my studio is on the backside of the building, so no damage there at all…”

“I hear you’ve started working for Aleix and Laura…how’s that going?”

“Good,” Eliza answered, pausing between bites to speak. “In fact I’m due over there again tomorrow. Hopefully this time there won’t be a ton of mud and snow in the entry way. That takes so long to scrub and get spotless.”

“Pol is back to being cranky Pol again. I don’t know if he’s hooked back up with Carlotta or if they’re just fighting again, but he doesn’t seem to want to go out and do anything these days.”

“Who’s Carlotta?” Asked Eliza softly, even though she wasn’t sure she really wanted to hear the answer.

“Pol’s on-again, off-again girlfriend. She’s a model.” Ricky told her.

“Oh.” Eliza replied as she looked down at her food, taking a deep breath before trying to force a smile onto her face. “I’m glad for him that he has someone.”

“She’s not a good one to have if you ask me,” Ricky answered. “She takes advantage of him, and we’re all pretty sure she’s cheated on him too…”

Looking down into her food again, Eliza told him softly, “Well, if she’s cheated, he did too. He went out with me a few nights ago. Haven’t heard from him since though, so I guess it was just retaliation at her.”

Shaking his head a bit, Ricky replied, “That’s not Polyccio. He wouldn’t have gone out with you just to get back at her. If he went out with you, it’s because he wanted to, because you interested him, simple as that.”

Raising her eyes up to meet Ricky’s, Eliza asked simply, “If he was so interested, why haven’t I heard anything from him since?”

Ricky could only shake his head at her, telling her softly. “I don’t know sweet girl, but we’ll get to the bottom of this for you. I don’t like seeing you hurting.”

Eliza had too much pride to admit to him how much she actually was hurting now.


	6. Second Chance

Prideful and spotless as always, Eliza arrived early the next morning at the Espargaro household, determined not to treat either of the couple any different than any other clients – they clearly weren’t the friends she thought they were, or they’d have better warned her about Carlotta. She’d tried to be mad at Ricky too, but he hadn’t even known they were going out, so he was in the clear.

Besides, he was so adorable when he was talking about Jonathan and how long they’d been together, and how much he loved him, he was impossible to be mad at, period.

Walking primly to the front door with her shoulders squared, eyes looking long past the entry when someone finally responded to the doorbell, and gracing Laura with only the slightest of glances, Eliza’s voice was as prim as her outfit and her walk. “Buenas dias, Senora Montero. If there’s nothing different that requires cleaning this week, I’ll get to work.”

Laura blinked and just stared at Eliza in shock, too shocked to summon up any words – or a warning that Pol and his “wolf puppy” were as well. And with Laura’s silence, Eliza headed off to the kitchen to clean up, immediately setting up here supplies and doing the dishes in the sink. Closing her eyes and humming softly to herself, Eliza got into the zone, scouring the cooktop as well as the inside of the sink.

In fact it was until she felt a hand reach out and touch hers that her eyes darted opened and she just barely stifled a scream, finding Pol’s wide eyes staring at hers. Her mask fell for a brief moment at seeing him again but she quickly put it back in place, pulling her hand back from his and asking in the same voice she’d graced Laura with, “Can I help you with something Señor Espargaro?”

Pol immediately wrinkled his nose at her, telling her, “Señor Espargaro is my father. I’m not that old yet. But enough of that…why are you being like this?”

Dark eyes tried to stare into hers, so she kept diverting them instead, first on the fridge she was cleaning and then on the floor. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She finally murmured, scrubbing harder at an imaginary spot on the fridge door.

“Eliza, the last time I saw you, we could hardly keep our eyes…or our lips…off of each other…”

“Perhaps you should save that behavior for the girlfriend you’ve been spending the last several days with, yes?” And not letting him answer, Eliza grabbed her supplies and moved to exit to the bathroom, intentionally closing and locking the door behind herself, though she could hear both Pol chasing after her and the patter of puppy footsteps as well.

Holding onto the sink and forcing herself to take deep breaths, to not open the door and take one look into those eyes and lose herself all over again, Eliza instead turned to the toilet, nose turning up a bit at the smell coming from within.

“Eliza please!” Pol shouted as he both banged on the door and rattled the handle. “Carlotta is not my girlfriend, and hasn’t been for quite some time before you and I went out. That doesn’t stop her from aggravating the hell out of me and trying to get back into my life, but I swear to you on Eina’s head that I’m not with her right now.”

Focusing on scrubbing the toilet and not Pol’s pleas, it wasn’t too long before the porcelain god was gleaming again. Then she entered the show and turned the water on just enough to get everything wet before scrubbing that as well, still despite the noise hearing Pol’s pleas, his assurances that everything was completely over with Carlotta, that he never wanted another thing to do with her again.

Could she believe him though? That was the million euro question.

~*~

By the time Eliza was vacuuming the master bedroom – with the two beagles watching her intently from their perches – Pol had given up on his chase and had returned to the TV room, laying on his stomach with his faithful pup curled up across his back.

But Laura was less inclined to give up and reached down to unplug the vacuum, leaving Eliza sweeping the air to her chagrin. Making a frustrated noise, she was surprised to find Laura holding the plug, swinging it slightly and telling her, “I’ll give it to you when you stop and actually listen to one of us instead of presuming that he did you wrong…” As Eliza opened her mouth to protest, Laura silenced her. “No. You don’t know what the last several days have been like. He had to call the police, and even that isn’t working to get her out of his house – she’s refused to leave and since her name is on the lease as well, the police were less than helpful.”

Raising an eyebrow and glancing towards the last direction she’d seen Pol, Eliza asked very quietly, “Is that why he seems to be staying here now?”

“Yes. That is exactly why he’s here now. He’s been doing nothing but laying on the couch, half the time in tears of frustration because he doesn’t know what else to do. We keep watching for her to leave, so he can send the locksmith out and change all the locks and then dump her stuff outside. He’s got his lawyer working on the lease. He’s really doing everything he can to get RID of her at this point…”

Biting on her lip and lowering her eyes, all of her normal confidence shot at this point, Eliza asked Laura softly, “What of this has to do with his date with me?”

“A lot if not all of it. When he’s not screaming and crying about Carlotta, he’s been talking about how wonderful a time he had with you, how beautiful you looked, how well you danced….”

“And I’ve not given him a chance to say a word to defend himself….” Eliza whispered, looking at the plug still dangling from Laura’s hand. “Do you mind if I’m late finishing again?”

“Given that my husband hasn’t tromped home from the mountains yet to screw up your entry way, by all means, take your time…”

With one more bite on her lip, Eliza slid from the bedroom to go track down Pol.

~*~

Leaning carefully in front of the sleeping Pol, but holding her hand out to be quietly licked by Eina, Eliza finally leaned closely to press a gentle kiss to Pol’s cheek, whispering near his ear. “Wake up Polyccio. It’s Eliza and I think we need to talk…”

It took a few minutes of attempts – the boy could sure sleep! – before he was finally rousing, gazing at her with blinking, sleepy eyes. “Eliza?” He questioned sleepily, “Is that really you?”

“It’s really me…” She assured him softly, running her fingers along his cheek until his hand came up to grab hers, almost clinging to her. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you Pol…”

He exhaled softly and tightened his grip on her hand, telling her, “So now you understand why I’ve been too preoccupied to do much of anything.” And when she nodded, he leaned closer to ghost his lips over hers. “You’ve been the only thing keeping me sane.”

Shivering a bit at his closeness, Eliza moved her other hand up to cradle Pol’s cheek while his hand threaded into her tied up hair, holding their mouths together, only pausing long enough to catch their respective breaths periodically.

“I’m yours. And there’s nothing she can do that’ll take me away from you.” He whispered to her, and as amazing as that sounded, she couldn’t silence the little niggling doubt in the back of her head that something **would** go wrong.


	7. Sweet Dreams

With the cleaning done at the Espargaro residence, Eliza headed back to her own apartment, an open invitation to Pol to come join her for dinner if he so desired. And with the thought in mind that he could possibly join her, Eliza made enough parmesan noodles for them both, and dimmed the lights, lighting candles around the entire apartment to compensate.

Around the time she was beginning to think she might be eating alone, she heard her doorbell ring, and was relieved to see Pol at her door. He barely made it a step in before they were kissing again, her hands going into the back pocket of his jeans, and his hands holding tightly to her hips. “I was worried you wouldn’t want to show…” She whispered to him between kisses.

“How could I miss this?” Pol retorted simply and slowly they pulled apart, Pol reaching for her hand and letting her lead him to the kitchen bar, where he let out a low whistle at the candle lit spread. “You did all of this for me?”

“Yeah…” She told him shyly, leading him to one of the bar stools and doling out his pasta for him before sitting beside him and doing the same for herself. “I hope you enjoy this…it’s not much, but it’s a taste of home for me…”

“I’m sure I’ll love it…” Pol responded as he dug in, a content little noise sliding from his throat as he ate, and a happy smile curling over his lips. “This is really good, sweetheart.”

Giving him a shy smile, Eliza told him simply, “I’m glad you like it.” Ducking her eyes a bit so they no longer met his, she added, “I’m not so good at this dating stuff. I’ve got no experience…”

“Really?” Pol asked her, trying to determine if she was indeed serious or just pulling his leg, and realizing by her increasingly reddening face that she **was** serious, told her, “You’re doing just fine. It’s not every day that someone goes out of there way to make me a romantic dinner, even less so for no particular reason…”

That earned Pol another small but shy smile while Eliza too dug into her food, so very comfortable in that moment with Pol by her side. Everything just felt natural with him, like anything she could have possibly planned would have been perfect.

Soon enough they were finishing their bowls, and Eliza rose to clear the dishes away, but Pol put a hand on her arm to stop her, telling her, “No way, sweetheart, you don’t cook for me like that **and** then do the dishes too. Give me a few minutes to clean up and then we can figure out what we’ll do for the rest of the evening.”

Gazing at him in wonderment, Eliza could only nod her head.

~*~

They’d ended up sat together in one of the oversized chairs bordering her bed, Pol on the bottom and Elia sitting sideways across his lap, her head resting against his shoulder. Her pay-per-view system left something to be desired – plenty of Spanish or Catalan options, but absolutely nothing in English. And so they watched what Pol assured her was a Spanish humor movie, which he periodically whispered the plotline to her for.

Despite his attempts at keeping her entertained though, Eliza started drifting off, her snores a vibration against Pol’s cheek much to his amusement. Careful adjusting himself in the chair, Pol shifted around until he easily able to life her up, her head still against his shoulder, and loaded her onto the bed barely 5 steps away. But it was as he finally let go and moved to step away he heard her soft voice, whispering and pleading with him, “Don’t go…I don’t want you to go…”

She’d drawn her eyes open at her words, and was gazing up at him with wide blue eyes he was finding it difficult to resist. His hand reached for hers and again and she gave him a squeeze, still silently pleading with him. Finally he told her, “I’d like to stay, sweetheart, but I have nothing to wear … unless you don’t mind me in my underwear and my t-shirt?”

She mumbled something into her pillow-top and he briefly wondered if she’d fallen asleep back again, but after a moment her hand was letting go of his and those still wide eyes were staring at him, telling him in a voice barely a whisper, “I’m a virgin…”

Giving her a smile at her words and leaning down to ghost a kiss against her lips, he whispered against her lips, “I’m not ever going to do anything to or with you that you don’t want to sweetheart. This I promise you. If you want to stay a virgin for the foreseeable future, then that’s fine with me…”

Eliza blinked up in surprise at him and bit lightly on her lip, asking him shyly, “and if the time came that I wanted to let you make me yours?”

Pol’s eyes darkened a shade and he leaned down to nip at her neck, pushing the material down with his fingers, sucking a spot that would be hidden by her clothes but that he would know would be there. Tracing his tongue over the darkening mark he told her in a soft voice, “I’d be fine with that too. But you’re already mine, and I’m already yours, amor…”

Shivering at the feel of his mouth, Eliza move to roll away from him, sliding out of her shoes and grabbing a set of pajamas from her dresser, telling him, “I’ll be right back.” She felt his eyes until she was out of sight and shivered the entire way, staring at herself in the mirror and wondering if she was really ready for anything that could happen on that night.

But at the same time she trusted Pol, and knew he really wouldn’t do anything that would make her uncomfortable. Now, open her world even more than he already had with his kisses? That too was entirely possible!

~*~

They’d lain there kissing for so long that Eliza could barely feel her lips when Pol’s hand slid a bit lower, still on her hip as it had been since she’d rejoined him in the bed, but this time underneath the shirt and against her skin. She trembled at the touch – she couldn’t help it – it felt like warmth was spreading outward from just the simple action.

Trying to follow his lead, she slid her hand under his shirt as well, but moved her fingers until they were up and over his heart, her thumb sliding back and forth over skin. Nuzzling against her neck almost immediately at her touch, Pol told Eliza softly, “It beats for you…”

Smiling at him, Eliza leaned up into another series of breathless kisses, until she was finally pulling back, whispering to him. “If we don’t stop soon I’m never going to get enough sleep for work tomorrow.”

“Okay sweetheart,” Pol said with some reluctance and he pulled her head gentle down until it was resting against his shoulder, the hand on her hip still holding her tightly to him.

Exhaling softly, Eliza could only wonder what it would feel like to wake up next to Pol in the morning.


	8. Dios Mio

After one of the best sleeps that Eliza could remember in some time, she awoke to find herself still being held tightly be Pol, his grip clearly possessive. Smiling at that, even if she did blush a bit, Eliza nuzzled against Pol’s neck to try and wake him up but that only served to have him make a little growly noise and hold her closer still.

Smiling more at how Pol behaved even in sleep, Eliza shifted the hand beneath his shirt, dragging her finger tips along his chest, and letting a thumb slide over his nipple, hearing him make another growly noise almost immediately upon doing so. She was fascinated by the reactions she could coax out of him with simple touches, and moved her other hand down along his hip, letting her fingers slide over the top edges of his 44 tattoo.

The more Eliza touched Pol, the closer he drifted to awake, until finally his dark eyes drew open to gaze at her, just staring at her for the longest time before shifting them so that he was rolled over on top of her, once more leaning in for a breathless kiss. It was only after they separated that he whispered to her, “That’s one hell of a way to wake up, sweetheart…”

Blushing a bit, but giving him a shy smile, Eliza continued to run her hands over Pol’s chest, watching as he threw his head back when she touched his nipples, and playing with them more until he was making another low growl in her direction. “Touching you is fun especially when I can get reactions like that…” She told him as she leaned in for another kiss, this time feeling his hands start to move.

The hand that had been on her hip slide up until Pol was able to slide her shirt up around her neck, and it was then that he broke the kiss, carefully tugging her shirt off and looking her up and down. “Dios mio, you’re beautiful….” And this time when he leaned in, instead of moving for her lips, he started to kiss down her neck, nipping again at the mark he’d already left on her neck and then dragging his tongue over top to soothe it.

Eliza’s response was to arch her head back and tilt her head to give him better access to her neck, only to have Pol work his way down her neck and to her chest, nipping lightly at her nipples as she gasped softly at the sensation. His tongue dragging over the hardening nubs, Pol used one hand to slide along the free breast while the other slide down along Eliza’s hips, his fingertips just barely tracing the edge of her underwear.

Eliza could only gasp at the sensations, panting a little for breath and trying to move her breasts closer to Pol’s touch, even as he made a low chuckling noise against her skin as she did so. “Don’t worry sweetheart,” He told her as he pulled back his mouth briefly, “I’m not going to stop until you tell me too…”

“Don’t stop…” Eliza whispered breathlessly, even as she pulled him back into another kiss, this one searing and full of tongue and teeth, Pol’s tongue sweeping possessively though every inch of her mouth that he could.

It was then that Eliza’s alarm went off and she cursed violently, giving Pol one more quick kiss before springing from the bed to get into her maid’s outfit, so confident and comfortable around him that she didn’t even bother going to the bathroom to change. Stripping in front of Pol she heard him let out a wolf whistle, and she blushed bright red in response to that, but feeling more confident, she also blew him a kiss.

Pol leaned up on his elbow to watch her, no hiding the interest or desire in his eyes, making Eliza blush a bit more. As she finally finished getting dressed, she moved to dart to the door, calling out to him, “There’s an extra key beneath the flower pot if you need it…”

And with that she was out the door, a bit more trembly than she could ever recall being, and Pol was left behind in her bed, content, but in dire need of a cold shower.

~*~

After a longer than normal day, where it seemed like she was so distracted that she was doing everything twice, Eliza finally arrived home to be greeted by a husky puppy, tail happily wagging in welcome. Petting Eina up, Eliza sniffed up the air, realizing that for the puppy to be in the house, Pol had to be too, and calling out to him, she asked, “Pol? What smells so good?”

Peeking around the corner from her kitchen, Pol gave her a wide smile, explaining to her, “I’ve been cooking. Went out for a bit as you can see since I brought Eina back – I hope you don’t mind that, by the way – and also picked up some food so I could return the treat to you.”

“Wow…no one has ever cooked for me before…” She told him with a shy smile, edging further into the kitchen with Eina hot on her heels. “So tell me about what you made because it smells really good in here…”

This time being the one giving the shy smile, Pol explained, “It’s a Catalan stew called ‘Escudella amb carn d'olla’ … it’s made with meat and vegetables cooked together. First course is a soup, then we eat all of the solid foods. I’m not going to tell you what’s in it exactly…better to surprise you just in case you think there’s something you might not like in it. You’re not allergic to any foods, are you?”

“Just chocolate.” And when Pol gaped at her, Eliza giggled at him. “Just kidding. That would be a fate worse than death!”

Playfully shoving her, Pol doled out the soup portion of the meal and then paused, asking Eliza, “Do you want to get comfortable first before we eat?”

Nodding her head, Eliza wandered off towards her closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, and once again not making any effort to hide anything from Pol. She stripped down to her underwear in front of him, then pulled the clean clothes on, blushing as was becoming usual when Pol wolf-whistled in her direction.

When she was finally re-dressed, Eliza wandered back to the kitchen bar, sitting next to Pol and digging into the soup he’d prepared for her. Feeling almost as much as tasting the soup warm her from the inside out, Eliza told him, “If the second course is as good as the first, this is going to be fantastic.” Pol gave her a happy grin and just inhaled through his soup, foot hopping slightly impatiently as he waited for Eliza to do the same. “You don’t have to wait for me, amor…you can grab the next course if you’re ready…”

Pol shook his head, telling her, “No, I’m eating with you, and if that means I eat a bit faster and finish a bit quicker, so be it. I’m here to eat with you…” And so Eliza finished her soup, slurping the last bit down as Pol giggled at her and then went to rise to get the second course, but a hand on her shoulder kept her seated. “No, I’ll serve you…”

Blowing Pol a kiss, Eliza sat waiting as Pol filled a plate full of meats and vegetables, and she just marveled a bit that he had gone through so much effort just for her. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

Returning her blown kiss with one of his own, Pol replied, “I’m just me. And just me is happy to be with just you. And any way I can show it, I will.”

Leaning over slightly, Eliza gave Pol a gentle kiss.

~*~

After taking Eina for a walk around her neighborhood and then enjoying some carquinyolis cookies that Pol had picked up during his journeys, Pol and Eliza again found themselves cuddling in bed, hands and mouths picking up where they had in the morning. They were learning and investigating each other’s bodies, often leaving Eliza trembling up against Pol.

“I can touch you in more places,” Pol whispered against her lips, “But only if you’re comfortable with that…”

Nodding her head shyly, Eliza whispered back to him, “Only if I can touch you back, make you feel as good as you’ve been making me feel…”

Pol groaned softly at that and nodded, pressing his lips against hers heard in a possessive kiss before whispering against her lips again, “To do that, we’re going to need to shed our underwear….you sure you’re okay with that?”

Eliza bit her lip nervously but nodded, showing complete trust in Pol and she shifted away from him slightly to wiggle out of her panties, then laid back on the bed wearing nothing but a smile. Pol groaned as she did so but made the move to slide his own boxers off, showing that he was already quite aroused by the actions that they had taken thus far.

“Have you ever touched yourself?” Pol asked her even as he reached for her hand, planning on showing her how he intended to make her feel good. When she shook her head no, Pol’s grin grew more and he threaded their fingers together, bringing them down between her legs, and using his thumb to slowly rub against her clit, then shifting their hands so that she was doing the same.

“Oh…my…god…” Eliza panted softly at him, mind blown that such a seemingly simple touch could make her body feel so electric, could make her feel like every inch of her skin was on fire. And for a few minutes they just alternated stroking her clit, even as she trembled more and more until Pol pulled her hand away, bringing it over to his cock.

At her curious and somewhat embarrassed glance, he explained to her, “Just wrap your hand around and slide it back and forth. I promise you that feels as good for me as what we’ve been doing for you…”

And so blushing but nodding, Eliza slowly stroked Pol’s hardness, him occasionally pressing up against her more as he groaned softly, while she did the same with his hand against her most private parts. Eventually, Pol leaned down again and this time kissed her gently, kissing her breathless as they continued to touch each other. All too soon Eliza’s breath started to catch in her throat and she felt like she was exploding from the inside before the feeling ebbed away, leaving her to catch her breath as Pol’s hand joined hers around himself.

It took them a few more minutes but soon enough he was crying out as well, calling out her name as he came over their combined fingers. Panting heavily, Pol still looked at Eliza closely, asking her breathlessly, “Were you ok with that?”

“More than…” She whispered back at him, using her free hand to wrap around his neck, pulling him in closer to another kiss.

She wasn’t sure if she was ready for sex yet, but they could continue doing what they’d done that night and she’d be beyond content.


	9. Model v2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers, I'm willing to provide translation services for the words herein, but first I need to hear from you that you're reading!

It had taken several days, and a very well payed locksmith, but Carlotta had finally exited Pol’s house one evening and come home a few hours later to find herself completely locked out. And though she did come back with a police escort the next morning, she was only given a few minutes to gather up ‘her things’ since the lawyer had worked his magic as well and the lease now only showed Pol’s name.

She threw a proper fit that no one really cared about – it happened to be cleaning day at the Espargaro’s for Eliza so she and Laura watched the whole thing through the shades while shaking their respective heads. “Dumb to go out drinking when you guys are his next door neighbor…” Eliza murmured. “Even if he was nowhere in sight, it didn’t mean he wasn’t watching…”

“Yes, exactly.” Laura conceded, and they eventually backed away from their perches, Eliza off to do her work and Laura hers. But as they began to separate, Laura turned and asked, “So how are you and my brother-in-law getting on now? Good I’d imagine since he’s been staying with you…”

Without even knowing it or being able to help it, Eliza’s face went crimson, even as she answered in her normally shy voice, “It’s been going good. Being around him just feels so comfortable and right…”

Laughing softly but patting the younger woman on the back, Laura teased, “I’d have never guessed by blush on your face. Comfortable and right, yes? Is that what you kids are calling it these days?”

This time Eliza was so crimson she just ducked off to the bathroom to clean the small room instead, Laura’s soft laughter echoing in her ears. And it wasn’t like she didn’t know what Laura was implying, or even what she might have unintentionally implied herself– she just really felt comfortable around Pol, completely. And yes, every tiny little thing that they did sexual was **right** as well. But that still hadn’t been what she meant!

Making a quick but thorough work of the bathroom, Eliza exited to head off to other areas of the house when a set of arms wrapped around her from behind, a soft voice against her ear going, “Boo!” Even recognizing the arms, the voice, it was still unexpected and Eliza startled, jumping slightly and swatting Pol on the arms. “Sorry.” His laughter-filled voice came against her ear and she had to fight the urge to snuggle back against him given that she **was** at work and that wouldn’t be appropriate. “I know you’re busy, but now that the Diva has left the building, I thought it made sense you had one of these, since I have one of yours…” 

And opening up his hand to her, Pol offered Eliza one of the freshly minted keys and a bit of a shy smile, almost as if he was genuinely concerned she wouldn’t take it. But after a moment her smaller hand closed over top of his and she grabbed for the key, taking it and tucking it into one of the many pocket of her outfit. “I don’t know if we’re quite to the point where we can come and go as we please from each other’s houses, but I appreciate that you trust me enough to have this…” She told him, not missing the slightly pained look at her words.

Sighing softly and allowing herself to be turned in Pol’s arms (somewhere, she imagined Laura was laughing hysterically about this little interaction), Eliza rested her forehead against his, trying to summon up the words to explain her fear. Yes, she’d already let him practically move himself and his “little wolf” into her place in the last several days, but swapping it around felt like so much more…symbolic…then her gesture had been.

“I’m not asking you to move in with me, sweetie.” He told her, big dark eyes so serious for once instead of bright and filled with light. “I just…want you to feel comfortable in my house. Whether I’m there or not. Like you’ve let me into your house…” And as Eliza continued to bite her lip, Pol continued to speak softly to her. “I’m not asking for your heart, or your hand in marriage, or any of those things. There’s nothing hidden in that key. Ok?” Taking a deep breath, she finally nodded, both looking around slightly before Eliza leaned in to give him a soft kiss, and pulled back almost immediately when an equally soft cackle filled the air. “Laura aquest no és un espectacle eròtic!”

“Uh-huh.” Came the response in English, just a few rooms away. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, Pol this time gave her a kiss on the cheek with a thumb that followed, and eyes that said more would come later.

But for the time being, Eliza had a house to clean, and Pol needed to stop disrupting her work.

~*~

“I really shouldn’t be taking you to class with me tonight…” Eliza told Pol as she nonetheless held one of his hands with her own, and used the other to balance her portfolio and supply satchel against her side. “Friend or not, I’m not sure Ricky would be comfortable with you seeing him like this…”

“Eliza, I’ve known about Ricky and Johnathan since I was old enough to understand that boys could like other boys too. And I didn’t have a problem with it then, nor do I have any other problems with things he might do different than me in his life. He is my amic, my friend. Not quite a…how you say…blood brother…but close.”

Nodding but still not completely sure she was doing the right thing, Eliza nonetheless led Pol through the maze of classrooms until they reached the cozy box that felt so intrinsically home to her. “Hola!” She greeted the Instructor, though her eyes scanned the room and noted an immediate problem. “Donde esta Señor Cardus?”

“No sé.” The instructor replied with a shrug as she glanced down at her watch, sighing and all but carrying a look about her like she was about to dismiss the group.

“Puedo llamarlo, él es mi amigo.” Pol told the instructor who stared at him in wonderment, like her class was to be saved afterall. Pol shifted off to the side, and could be seen clearly having an animated conversation with Ricky, his eyebrows going up and down several times in one otherwise short conversation. When he disconnected the call, he shrugged his shoulders at the instructor and told her, “No vendrá. El lo siente.”

Groaning, this time making no attempt to hide her helplessness and general agitation with the situation, the instructor took one look at Pol and asked him, “Pues entonces, ¿quién es usted?”

“Soy Pol. El novio de Eliza.”

And as Eliza’s mouth dropped to the floor, the instructor asked, “Va a modelar para nosotros?”

“Eliza do you mind if I….” And noting her mouth still agape, Pol moved closer to her, a hand settling on her arm and another waving in front of her eyes. “Eliza? Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“El novio de Eliza?!?”

“Oh. Well. Yeah. Is that a problem?” Eliza shook her head a little bit and a tiny smile curled over her lips, and a blush filled her cheeks. “I guess you don’t mind then if I model?”

“Just keep your shorts on Skippy, I’m not sharing that view with anyone…”

“Skippy?” Pol questioned, even as he pulled his shoes off and started to take off his top and pants.

“Nevermind…I’ll explain it to you later…” And then to just make sure none of her female classmates got any ideas, Eliza pulled Pol closer and gave him a breathless kiss before marching off to a seat to set up her supplies at.

Pol just grinned, but if Eliza had looked a bit closer, she might have noticed the cloud just barely settled over his vision as well.


	10. Amic

It was as they went to exit the classroom, after his modeling stint, that Eliza asked Pol simply, “So what’s really wrong with Ricky?” Pol gave her a surprised look but she shrugged, telling him, “Ignoring that I’m trained to study people and record what I see in sketches and drawings…I could see the shadow in your eyes almost the entire time. That unspoken…hurt. Your friend is in deep pain and it’s hurting you…”

Continuing to give her a surprised look but also nodding his head in agreement, Pol finally leaned in to give Eliza a brief kiss before explaining to her, “Him and Jonathan were a lot like me and Carlotta. Despite all the years between us, we’d all constantly break up and get back together…”

And shivering a little, not the least bit from the cold, but instead the implication that another turn with Carlotta was inevitable, Eliza said to him, “I see. So Jonathan and Ricky broke up again?”

“It’s not just that,” Pol told her as he held her hand tighter, full aware of her fears but also her unwillingness to bring voice to them. Keeping the conversation on Ricky, he told her, “Ricky sees me, sees what I’ve found and is afraid this time when Jonathan wanders, he won’t come back…”

“Jonathan shouldn’t be wandering or wanting to wander in the first place!” Eliza protested as Pol smiled and gave her a soft kiss, leading her away from the school and in the direction of her apartment, which was closer, so they could pick up wheels to go visit Ricky. 

“Neither should Carlotta.” Reminded Pol, and he held up a hand briefly to silence her before continuing, stopping them and looking straight at her before continuing. “But sometimes you love someone for so long and so much, that you truly believe you’ll never find anyone else who makes your heart feel that way. And so you keep letting them hurt you until they decide playtime is over and things are again ‘normal’ for a time. That was my life until you.”

Unable or mostly just unsure how to take what Pol had said, and the ramifications it held for their relationship, Eliza just waited for him to continue, but clang to his hand like everything of value in her life depended on it.

Giving Eliza one of his beautiful smiles, he leaned to press his cheek to hers, Pol’s next words delivered against her ear. “I’ve got you. This is my normal now. And she doesn’t like it but she played and left me abandoned one too many times. This time, someone I could someday love more walked into my life…” This time Eliza clearly understood his words and started shivering, again waiting for him to continue. “In my haste tonight, you learned how much I’ve begun to care, how I see you and I. I’m not in love with you yet, but sweetheart I’m falling so fast…”

Finally finding some semblance of control, Eliza turned to wrap her arms around Pol’s shoulders, telling him in a shaky voice, “God, I know that feeling. Everything moves so quickly with us on one hand, but on the other, everything feels the way it’s meant to be. Perfect. Comfortable. Like my own breathing Prince Charming.”

Blushing at her, Pol nonetheless nuzzled along her neck, turning to lightly kiss the skin, waiting until she was quivering again to tell her simply, “I know. You and me and our little wolf pup…it’s like a little family…” But after a moment, his eyes darkened again and he added in a much softer voice, “Ricky has just lost who he thought was his Prince Charming. And right now he doesn’t know how to cope.”

“We’ll help him.” Eliza said resolutely.

“Yes.” Pol nodded. “Yes we will.”

~*~

“Ricard?” Pol called out as they reached the apartment, and a minute later was greated by a shouted, “¡vete!” Leaving Pol snorting and Eliza raising her eyebrows curiously. “He wants me, doesn’t realize yet it’s us, to go away…he’s lucky I don’t have Eina or she’d be romping him…Instead…” Pol unlocked the room where his bulldog normally stayed and whistled softly, beckoning the dog along.

In a moment it was the dog leading them off to the bedroom, where Ricky was mercilessly at least mostly clothed and jumped on the bed, smothering his master in kisses while Ricky cursed a streak under his breath.

“We’re here to help…” Eliza told him softly and that only earned her a growl in her direction.

“I don’t want any help. Especially and particularly from the female persuasion!”

“J must have a girlfriend again,” Pol mouthed to her as he advanced further and she stayed back near the door for the time being, not wanting to disrupt his pain. “Come out with us tonight….let us make you forget for a little awhile…”

“And be surrounded by sets of perfect little couples while my heart shatters into tiny little pieces….no thanks. I meant what I said earlier…get out, amic. Let me deal with this alone….”

Still Pol proceeded further into the room until he was at Ricky’s side and it took a few moments of staring before Ricky was suddenly tackling Pol and sobbing against his shoulder, shaking voice telling the sad tale. “He said he was coming this way to go skiing because the boss was. And then asked about seeing other people while he was here. Like, it’s not bad enough I won’t get to see him while he’s here…he’s also got to see other people at the same time.”

Edging further into the room after a moment, Eliza sat on the end of the bed, gently rubbing Ricky’s feet as he twitched a bit at the touch. “What can we do for you, lovely?” She asked, not really expecting an answer, but asking nonetheless.

And Ricky just shoot his head, curling up a bit against Pol and sniffling slightly, eyes still leaking, but no longer the mighty sobs of several minutes earlier. 

~*~

Coming back from Ricky’s place sometime later, parking Eliza’s Renault safely within the confines of Pol’s garage, the two remained very quiet, both deep in thought about their friend and how they could possibly make things better for them, neither having any brilliant ideas. “I feel so bad for him…” Eliza whispered as she wrapped her arms around Pol from behind, nuzzling her face against the back of his neck.

“I know, sweetheart. I wish we could get Jonathan to see what he’s doing to him. Because I think he cares, but I don’t think he realizes he’s hurting him so badly. At least that’s what I used to tell myself with Carlotta. I was probably wrong then, so I’m probably wrong now…”

“Can you distract me?” Eliza asked him softly as she continued to nuzzle against him, smiling a bit when he turned her in his arms and her mouth was able to settle on the pulse point of his neck. While Pol groaned softly, Eliza just hugged him tighter, whispering to him, “I’m so glad I have you. I don’t know what I’d do without you…”

If she’d expected more sexcapades, Eliza was surprised when Pol led her to a keyboard and indicated she should sit off to the side, giving her the shiest of smiles while he sat at the keyboard and started playing, a melody rolling off his fingertips as thought it was the most natural thing in the world.

Rocking her head slightly to the tune, Eliza could only gaze at Pol in amazement, surprised to find this additional secret talent and she just sat and watched him play for the longest time, until everything else had slipped from her mind, and the only thing she was thinking about was him and his music.

When he eventually stopped playing, Eliza just curled up in Pol’s arms again, grateful that they at least didn’t have Ricky's issues.


	11. Two Sides

Waking up mostly naked in Pol’s bed was one thing, but waking up freezing because the two cover hogs had stolen all of the sheets was quite another. So Eliza pressed the bottoms of her cold feet to the backs of Pol’s legs until he jumped and stared at her, sleepily asking, “What was that for??”

“You and your wolf stole the sheets.” She told him matter-of-factually, indicating her completely sheet free side of the bed.

“I did not.” Pol tried protesting before Eliza pressed her feet to his legs again and he yelped. “Ok, ok, maybe I did!”

“Better, Polyccio. Better.” And she moved to snuggle up closer to him and Eina both but as soon as he went to wrap his arms around her, she cackled and rolled – sheets etc. in arms – back to her side of the bed, giggling all the while.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Pol still was giggling as he spoke and he made the move to pounce Eliza, happy dark eyes staring down into feisty blues. Pinning her and her sheets to the bed, he leaned down to give her a slow kiss, both sets of eyes fluttering shut and a happy sigh leaving both sets of lips. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Mmm. It is now.” Lifting up her arms so that Pol could climb beneath Eliza wrapped her arms tightly around his hips once he was closer, again making a happy sighing sound. Eliza could feel the edges of his morning erection against her leg and it made her want to do more, but she still wasn’t quite ready yet to feel that part of him inside of her. Still, she wrapped her legs around the back of his, feeling him shift closer still and she couldn’t help but rub her body against his, feeling and hearing him groan at the contact.

“Eina, cocina.” Pol managed before his hands were sliding up and onto her breasts as his wolf left the room, leaving Elia to lean up and catch his lips with her own, a hungry possessive kiss between the two of them making them both breathless, even as their clothed hips continued to rock against the others. “Fuck,” he whined as her feet on his ass pressed them closer together still, the only thing separating them from sex 2 thin pieces of cloth.

Leaning her head and catching Pol’s pulse point in her mouth, Eliza kept rocking and rubbing against him, focusing on the good feelings rolling through her, knowing by his reactions that Pol was feeling the same way. It wasn’t much longer before she was throwing her head back and calling out his name as waves of pleasure washed over here, and during that time, Pol snuck a hand into his own pants to pull out his cock, jerking hard on it until the warm liquid was spread over her breasts and stomach, the dirtiness of it all seemingly turning her on even more. “Oh **God** Pol,” she whispered, clinging to him, keeping them pressed together, not caring the least about the stickiness covering them both now.

His response was to capture her lips with his own again and slow them down with a kiss, not quite as hungry or possessive as the earlier kiss, but no less full of passion. Running his hand up and down her side a few times, Pol finally brought his hand up to cradle her cheek, thumb dragging over the smooth curves.

When they finally separated, Pol turned his head and muttered in low Catalan against her neck, nothing she could remotely understand and on questioning him, he simply told her, “Just saying you’re mine, sweetheart.” Even though the words weren’t quite the truth, she didn’t know enough to question him and just smiled contentedly in his embrace, drifting off back to sleep surrounded by the warmth of Pol and his blankets.

~*~

“I’m not so sure about this…” Eliza told him while staring at the ski pols in her hands and the boards strapped to her feet.

“It’s okay, I won’t let you fall too much, and even if you do I’ll be right there to pick you up again,” Pol assured her as Eliza snorted at him slightly.

“You forgot the part where you laugh at me, too.”

“I’m **sorry** ,” Pol told her even as he started laughing again. “But Eina had you all tied up and it was a wonder you stayed up as long as you did!”

“Wasn’t funny.” Eliza grumbled as she gave him a pout, to which Pol leaned forward and nipped at her lower lip, eyes darkening for the moment as a reminder of how their morning had begun.

“Hey…people watching…” Aleix called out, and to that extent both Eliza and Pol flipped him off as Aleix and Laura both hooted in laughter.

“What are we watching?” Called out a new unfamiliar voice and Eliza craned her head to take in this new person, about Pol’s size, but with a clear edge of confidence about him.

“Pol laughing at his girlfriend for getting knocked over by Eina.” Aleix informed the new person and he chuckled as well.

As Eliza half waddled, half skied to the rest of the group, new person tilted his head and said, “Hello, you’re not Carlotta.”

Wrinkling her nose immediately, Eliza turned towards Pol, no longer quite so interested in being introduced, but feeling he could make the introduction if he desired. “Jorge, this is my girlfriend, Eliza. Eliza this is our sometimes friend, sometimes pain in our ass, Jorge Lorenzo.”

“I resemble that remark!” And smiling at Eliza he edge a bit closer to her and staged-whispered loud enough for them all to hear, “You’re much prettier than her, anyways.”

While Eliza blushed, Pol gave Jorge a playful shove. “Just because you’re single doesn’t mean you can flirt with my girlfriend.”

And while the conversation continued on, Eliza suddenly blurted out, “Wait, you’re Ricky’s Jorge. Why aren’t you with him right now??”

“And conversations like this is why no one ever believes me when I tell them I’m a single straight man.” Lamented Jorge before he shook his head and told Eliza softly, “Because he and J are trying to talk things out, see if they can find any common ground or if this is to be it.” 

Growling a little bit, Eliza shook her head. “If that buffoon can convince Ricky to let him take advantage of him again…”

“Hey, that buffoon is my friend, too. My employee as it were. And I know he looks like a clown in this, but just remember there’s two sides to every story, and you only know the one.”

And despite Ricky’s previous assurances that she and Jorge would get along famously, she really wasn’t feeling that at the moment.


	12. Like on the Movies

Preparing the bath for Eliza after she’d fallen more than a dozen times while skiing, Pol’s eyes lit up when she came into the bathroom completely naked, and he made no attempts to hide the way his eyes looked her up and down. And while she blushed at the feel of his eyes, she also gave him a shy smile, moving closer to him until her hand was lightly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Thank you for doing this for me.” She told him and he just gave her a shy smile to match her own.

“Least I could do after all the times you fell. My turn to make you feel good again.” Pol responded as he offered her a hand to help her into the oversized tub, smiling to himself as she settled in with a soft sigh.

“You’re so good to me,” She murmured at him, shifting down into the tub until just her chin was above the water.

“That’s because you’re mine, sweetheart.” He told her as he reached for the luffa, getting it all lathered up with soap and carefully running it along her neck, pausing briefly to trace a fingertip along her fading hickey, smiling when she shivered at the touch.

“I’m so glad I am…” Eliza whispered to him, her eyes drifting shut as Pol continued to lightly scrub at her skin, carefully washing her and taking note every time she shivered or twitched slightly. “You make me feel so good.”

“That’s my aim.” Pol replied, letting the luffa slide lower so that it was working over her breasts, while he leaned closer into the tub to freshen up her hickey, tongue soothing the mark as she made a soft whimpering noise at his touches. When Pol continued sliding the luffa down to her stomach, he moved his free hand over to cup a breast, squeezing lightly and letting a thumb drag over her nipple, smirking a bit to himself when Eliza pressed up into his hand, again making that little moaning noise. “I’ve got you, sweetheart…just let go and feel…”

Groaning a bit again, Eliza nodded as her breathing drew more ragged with each touch he made, the hand with the luffa advancing further down her body, while the other hand followed closely thereafter, tweaking nipples, ghosting fingertips along her hips, and as he finally brought the luffa to her most private parts, immediately dragging the other hand over her clit. After another moment, he slowly slid a single finger inside of her, noting her gasp of both surprise and pleasure as she again pressed into his touch, but he only teased briefly before working the luffa down her thighs and lower legs.

“You’re killing me, Polyccio…” She whispered as her eyes drew open to stare at him, an almost dazed expression on her face but her eyes dark with passion. “When I get out of here, it’s my turn to drive you wild…”

“Oh?” He questioned as his eyes darkened at her words, his hand moving up between her legs again to slide a finger back inside of her, smirking a bit as she shuddered and gasped. “What do you have in mind, sweetheart?”

“I don’t know…” Eliza admitted. “I just want to make you feel at least as good as you’re making me feel.”

“Mmm…we could watch a porno movie…see if you get any ideas from that, if you’d like…” Pol offered up, though in the back of his mind he wondered if they were finally reaching the threshold where sex would be on the table. Not wanting to push her at all, he added, “I’ll follow your lead, sweetheart.”

Eyes looking Pol up and down hungrily, Eliza told him, “Let me dry off from this and get dressed, and then we can see what we can find.”

~*~

While Pol set up the TV in the main room to find some pay-per-view pornography, Eliza dressed in an outfit she’d bought just for Pol. Noticing his love for fluorescent green and yellow, she’d found a set of tiny panties and an equally small spaghetti strapped top in black lace – but edged in almost a dead perfect match to his fluorescent green. She was quite pleased with herself, if also nervous about how he’d view the outfit.

Venturing out into the main room, she felt Pol’s eyes before he said a word, and even at that point all he could manage was a simple “ **Wow**.” Reaching his hand out to her to pull her closer, Pol tugged her into a kiss, nipping at her lower lip and then deepening the kiss, all while his other hand cupped her ass through the thin lacy fabric.

“You like?” Eliza asked him shyly, as she pulled back a bit and gave him a little twirl, the entire outfit leaving nothing to the imagination.

“God yes.” Pol replied in a low growly voice, hand reaching for her again to tug her onto his lap, head nuzzling against her back as he flipped on the porno he’d chosen, a relatively tame one by most standards, with a lot of touching and not as much fucking.

Rubbing her ass against Pol’s jeans, making them both groan softly, Eliza rested her head back against Pol’s shoulder as the movie started, wide eyes intrigued by the various shows being put on the screen. They’d made it maybe 10 minutes into the movie when she reached for the remote to stop it suddenly, eyes shining brightly as she moved to slide from his lap to kneel in front of him on the floor. “I think I’ve got my idea now…” She told him in a low voice as he stared down at her with wide eyes.

As he watched, Eliza reached up to undo Pol’s jeans, purposefully rubbing her hand against him as she worked the zip, and then indicating to him with her hand that he should lift his hips, which he readily did. In another moment, his jeans and boxers were off, and Eliza found herself staring at his very hard cock. Leaning forward, Eliza hesitantly wrapped her mouth around his hardness, bringing her hand up to cup his balls, and stroke him at the same time.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Pol whined, as he concentrated every single bit of his efforts not to thrust up into her mouth or otherwise take control of the situation, letting her move at her own – if torturously slow – pace.

Grinning around him, Eliza used her hand to stroke him harder as she tried to take him as deeply into her mouth as possible, as she’d seen on the movie, growling a bit around him to send vibrations shooting down his cock and making him tremble in pleasure.

As Pol started to pant and breath heavier, he finally put a hand on her shoulder to push her back slightly, whispering to her, “Wait…I have a way we can both enjoy this…” And shifting on the couch so that he was laying down, he reached for her, telling her, “Lay so that your ass is in my face, and your mouth is down where it was...” As soon as she was prone on top of him he reached for her panties and tugged them off, dropping them on the floor beside the couch and then doing the same with her thin little top.

Nodding her understanding, Eliza immediately went back to work on sucking his cock until she was gasping herself at feeling Pol’s tongue sliding inside of her along with one of his fingers, his thumb sliding back and forth over her clit rapidly to try to get her as aroused as he was. Shivering hard and closing her eyes from the almost pleasure overload, Eliza just tried to focus on Pol, massaging his heavy sacs in her hand and using her other hand to jerk him harder.

It wasn’t much longer before Pol was tugging on her, trying to pull her away from his dick while Eliza just shook her head at him, having watched the scenes on the video and knowing that he could and would spurt down her throat if given the opportunity. And though she wasn’t expecting either the force or the salty taste of his cum, she nonetheless tried to take it all down, though she was well aware there was a trail of the hot liquid trailing down from the corner of her mouth.

With his mind blown, Pol redoubled his efforts on trying to get Eliza off, working two fingers inside of her and thrusting them back and forth, his tongue joining in the ministrations while his thumb continued to work over her clit. Soon enough she too was shaking and shuddering, calling out his name as she rested her cheek against his softened cock, too overwhelmed to even try and move for the moment.

But Pol reached for her again and carefully resituated her so that she was curled up in his arms and just kissed her forehead, whispering to her, “You’re amazing, sweetheart…”

Shrugging a little bit and giving him a shy little smile, Eliza just leaned up to give him a soft, gentle kiss.


	13. Day One

Several days had passed since the pornography watching session, and as far as Eliza was concerned, her life couldn’t be more perfect. She had everything she needed and wanted in Pol, and she’d decided on waking up this morning that she was finally ready to ‘go all the way’ with him. He, however was still asleep so she quietly woke up Eina, telling her in a whisper soft voice, “Eina, cocina.” And when the dog semi-reluctantly left, Eliza made her move, quickly and quietly shimmying out of her sleep clothes and then shifting to roll on top of Pol, kissing along his face and neck until he’s eyes drew open.

“Mmm…good morning, sweetheart…” Pol’s hands automatically slide down to her ass to hold her close and upon realizing she was wearing nothing but a shy smile, his eyebrow raised in her direction.

Nipping lightly at her own lower lip, Eliza ducked her head shyly and told him, “I want to feel you…all of you…inside of me…”

Groaning softly at her words, Pol grabbed her ass cheeks, giving them a squeeze, before asking in a low, rumbly voice, “Are you sure, sweetheart??”

Nodding her head, Eliza started down into Pol’s dark eyes, leaning close to give him a tender kiss that slowly burned into a more passionate kiss, until finally they were both breathless again. It was only then that she properly answered, telling him, “I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be, and there’s no one else I’d rather give this to than you…”

Groaning again, Pol pulled Eliza up so that she was sitting on his chest, then shimmied out of his boxers, kicking them off into the corner before pulling her flat down on top of him so that they were face to face, chest to chest, body to body. “This is going to hurt you,” He reminded her softly, even as a hand stroked down her back once more, making her tremble against him. “I’ll do my level best to lessen the pain as much as possible but you’re going to be feeling me for at least a few days…”

“No one else I’d rather feel.” Eliza assured him as she leaned in to give him another slow kiss, feeling one of Pol’s arm anchor down her hips while the other hand reached off towards his nightstand, returning a few moments later with supplies necessary for the day’s excursion.

When Pol had finally kissed her breathless once more, he moved to carefully roll her over so that she was on the bottom and in the middle of the bed, and then moved to grab the tube of lube he’d tossed onto the bed. “I’m going to stretch and loosen you up as much as I can…maybe even successfully enough so to get you off before we do this…”

Eliza groaned at his words and simply spread her legs in an open invitation to him, watching his eyes darken several shades before he leaned down between her and carefully stuck a lubed up finger inside of her, occasionally following with his tongue but mostly just focusing on putting that finger and then a second inside and using them to ‘scissor’ tight muscles open.

Whimpering the entire time, Eliza finally pleaded to him, “Oh God Pol…you, please you…make me feel you…”

And though hesitant, Pol reached for the condom, the ripping of the package sounding almost deafeningly loud in his small bedroom, and with one hand he carefully eased the rubber on, coating it with lube a moment later. Eyes on hers, he slowly rubbed his cock against her clit for several moments before moving to push inside ever so slowly, stopping almost immediately to allow her to adjust.

Gasping, as much from shock as the stretch, Eliza clenched muscles around him, trying to signal him to continue, which he did, very slowly filling her inch by slow inch until he was fully sheathed and she was gasping and panting for breath. Clenching and unclenching her muscles around him, it was then Eliza felt Pol pulling from her, but before she could wonder what he was doing, he was thrusting back inside of her – and it was then she felt _something_ rip inside of her, and she whimpered a bit as much in surprise as the actual little bit of pain.

“I know sweetheart, I know…” Pol told her as he moved to lay on top of her, capturing her lips with his own and just thrusting gently over and over again, letting her orgasm build once more, knowing that her quaking muscles would easily trigger his own.

When Eliza’s thighs started to shake beneath his, Pol redoubled his efforts, sliding a hand between their bodies and letting her clit rub against his thumb, feeling rather than hearing her gasp, and it only took another moment or two before she was loudly calling out his name, her muscles clenched down on him so tightly, like a vice, that he followed after barely a moment later.

Easing himself out of her once she stopped trembling, Pol took off the condom and tossed it in the bin, carefully moving them so that he was on the bottom and asking her, “How much time do you have before you need to be at work?”

“Mmm…” she answered contentedly at first, not initially even aware of his question until she finally told him, “Your brother’s house today, so I’ve got some time…”

“Then rest sweetheart…I’ll make sure you’re up in time to get over there on time.”

Nodding her head, already half into that blissed out semi-conscious state, Eliza curled up tightly in Pol’s arms and easily drifted off to sleep, soon just snoring softly against his shoulder.

It wasn’t until she was snoring though that Pol rubbed his cheek against her neck, whispering the word again that he couldn’t yet repeat while she was awake, “T’estimo.”

~*~

Eliza had indeed arrived next door with plenty of time to spare, and her cat-eating-canary grin combined with her slight limp had Laura asking all sorts of questions, but mostly, just hugging her tightly and expressing how happy she was for her, for them both.

Eliza meanwhile just went about her work, definitely ‘feeling Pol’ when she bent over or got down on her hands and knees, but it wasn’t a bad pain so much as a definite level of discomfort. But for the amount of pleasure it brought? Certainly worth it in her book, and she’d absolutely do it again. The feelings had been amazing…

Laura had taken Eliza out to lunch in celebration and they were both surprised to see her Renault in their driveway when they returned, but both simply assumed that Pol was working on a project and needed the extra workspace, and that he wanted to make it easier for Eliza to be able to head to class that evening. They were simply too happy, too high on life to think anything differently at that point.

So it wasn’t until later that evening that Eliza opened her car door to find an envelope sitting on her seat, scrawled in Pol’s ohsofamiliar handwriting…

_Dear Eliza,_

_I’m sorry to have to do this, but we have to end things. Carlotta has come back and she is pregnant. I’m going to be a father! I hope you can understand, and I’m sorry for having to do this like this, but it was the only way._

_All the best,_

_Polyccio_

Eliza wasn’t sure how long she stared at the letter before she noticed that not only had he wrote the note, but he’d also boxed up all her things, and put them in the back seat of her car. So numb was she to the mere shock of it all that she couldn’t even summon up tears or anything, just managing to shake her head slightly.

With her head in the clouds and her mind anywhere else but driving, Eliza drove home – back to her home – and it was only once there that she started to cry, mountains of tears that upset her and her stomach so much that she was throwing up.

And yet, she still intended to go to her class.

~*~

Arriving late to class, much as she had the first time Ricky had modeled, she was relieved to see her friend was once more modeling, though she didn’t know what that meant for him and his relationship with Jonathan. Sitting in her chair with her pad out but not really able to summon up the interest to draw – or really see through her still puffy red eyes – Eliza mostly did a lot of erasing and redrawing of non-essential lines, just hoping she wouldn’t tear the paper in the process.

Much as he had the first day, Ricky approached Eliza last and took one look at her – and not even a look at her drawing – and told her, “You’re coming home with me.”

She thought about arguing but didn’t have the strength for it, and just let Ricky wrap an arm around her shoulder and led her to his car, where they soon made the drive to House Lorenzo. Once Eliza was safely inside and balanced on the couch, Ricky kneeled in front of her and placed his hands on her knees, gazing up and asking simply, “What did he do to you?”

Choking back another sob at the sweet, well-meaning question, Eliza fished the now crinkled note out of her pocket and handed it to Ricky, then bringing both hands to her face to try to hide her sobs. Ricky read the note quickly and set it aside, reaching for Eliza and tugging her into his arms, rocking her slowly back and forth and whispering soothing noises next to her ear. 

That did taper the sobbing somewhat, but soon enough Eliza was pulling away from Ricky to run off towards his bathroom, dry heaving again because she’d long since emptied the contents of her stomach. With him behind her, she sat on his tiled floor, head leaning against the edge of the commode and tears streaming down her cheeks again, as Ricky used a moist towel to both wipe her tears and then clean her face.

Biting lightly on his lip and just staring at this mess of a woman in front of him, Ricky could only whisper to her, “I’ll get better darling. I know it might not seem that way right now, but I promise you it will…”


	14. Where it all Goes Wrong

Some 2 days after what Ricky was now privately referring to as ‘The Pol affair’, Eliza was no better off than she’d been when he’d first brought her back to Lorenzo House. She’d be sitting quietly, seemingly doing ok and then burst into tears at nothing, getting herself so upset that she would empty whatever contents happened to be in her stomach at the time. That being said, Ricky was struggling to get her to eat or even mostly respond to him at all. The bright blues that had caught his attention that first class night had faded to a pale blue, and even her skin had a pale bluish tone to it – like she was just giving up without Pol.

“Eliza…what’s your middle name?” Ricky questioned her out of nowhere as he climbed up on the bed beside her, trying to find way to distract her from her despair.

“Josephine. After my father, Joseph.” She shook her head a little but the barest hint of a smile played on her lips. “They named me bloody Eliza Jo. Do you have any idea how much I got picked on for that?”

He shook his head in return and she started just talking to him, about her childhood in the states, her life before Europe, her eyes and skin despite herself starting to take on their more normal hues as she talked, too distracted by Ricky to realize what he’d done.

“You went to Paris first, out of your high school, right?” and Ricky crawled closer still until she was able to curl up in his arms, head on his shoulder and the conversation so…normal…though they were little things Pol didn’t know because he’d never really asked.

“Right, I told you that night we all met at the bar…” And she hesitated for a long moment, her mind obviously drifting back to that night before Ricky reached for her mouth, turning it to his and giving her a slow kiss, noting her shock at first but the way she eventually embraced it, and after a moment he told her softly, “Just focus on me, not the past. I’ll protect you, I promise you that.”

“But you don’t like women…”

“Maybe I just haven’t met the right one?” Ricky shrugged at her as he moved a hand near her breast and shrugged a bit more, “I still prefer a body without these and with something a bit more down here…” And he slid his hand near her private parts to prove his point, knowing he succeeded when she started chuckling softly.

“It’s a shame.” She told him with a smile, kissing his nose affectionately. “You do have the most beautiful brown eyes I’ve ever seen.”

“And you’re a beauty…” Ricky retorted as she shook her head and ducked her eyes from him. Reaching to cup her chin he told her in soft Spanish, “Hermosa, tu más bella que la luna y todas las estrellas en el cielo ...” He knew she didn’t understand all the words, but enough made it through that she gave him a shy smile.

Turning on his side so that they could curl into each other’s arms, Ricky’s forehead leaned against hers, their lips only a heartbeat away from the others. Wrapping an arm low around her waist in a half-protective, half-comforting gesture, Ricky wasn’t too surprised when she mimicked it on her own. Bussing their lips briefly, Ricky whispered to her, “Sleep. You need it something fierce. I’ll wake you up later.”

She nodded and though Ricky’s intents were to wake her up, he fell asleep as well, their feet tangling up in each other as they slept.

And it was in that rather compromising position that Pol found them when he came to check in on Ricky to see how he was handling HIS breakup.

~*~

Despite Ricky’s worries about her, Eliza determined to not miss any of her classes if she could help it, and even declined his offer to go to the class with her, that thought bringing back too many memories of Pol doing the same thing.

Setting up towards the front of the class, Eliza didn’t fail to notice the instructors inquisitive glance at her, but she shrugged it off, figuring she still look a bit tired, a bit pale, from the past few days. That was until several minutes later when the evening model…no….models arrived and Eliza had to swallow hard to not lose her evenings dinner.

For it was Pol and Carlota that appeared before the class, her former lover not even offering a look in her direction, only staring at each-other. She watched them as they helped each other undress, his hands tenderly sliding over her stomach and then stopping there briefly before continuing on, the two of them finally getting all but naked for the class.

Eliza sat there taking deep breaths for several minutes before finaly she couldn’t take it any more, yanking the drawings of Pol out of her portfolio and ripping them to shreds before her attention turned to the instructor, telling her in curt English. “I QUIT.”

Practically in a sprint out of the school, she wondered if Pol would try and follow her, if he even cared anymore, but by the time she reached Ricky’s house in a heap of sobs, she’d given up on everything again.

Going inside she found Ricky staring blankly at a wall, and she all but collapsed on his lap, him taking a moment or two to process her presence before his arms tightened around her and he rocked her gently, voice soft near her ears, “What’s the matter, baby?”

“He…they…were there. Didn’t even acknowledge me…” She managed in a gasping breath before she whispered in a whimpery voice next to Ricky’s ear, “Hooooooooooooow cannnnnnn he haaaaate me soooo much?”

“Because he’s an asshole who doesn’t deserve you, baby. And maybe he never did. Maybe this was all just a game to him, to them. But whatever the case, I’ve got you now, and you’re going to be alright….” Nuzzling her neck, Ricky turned their heads until they were kissing again, an innocent kiss that was only two friends comforting each other from their respective broken hearts.” When it finally separated, Ricky rested his forehead against hers, asking her softly, “What if we try going out with Aleix and Laura tonight? They’ve been asking about you, and that asshole would be a bloody fool to show up after tonight’s stunt…”

Hesitating a long time, her forehead rested against his as well and her eyes drifted closed, she finally nodded and said, “Ok. It’s not fair to them to punish them for the sins of their brother…”

Easing into another soft kiss against Ricky’s lips, Eliza moved to stand, her hand reaching towards his, intending to bring him to his bedroom and help him get dressed into something more appropriate for gathering with friends.

~*~

Despite hers and their best efforts, Eliza was failing horribly at taking comfort from the older Espargaros. As she finally whispered to Aleix, “Every time I look at you, I see him. Everytime you smile, you laugh…it’s him. I can’t deal with it…” And rising, Eliza moved to stand go behind the table where the jackets were stacked, hearing the dreaded voices long before they came into her line of vision.

“Thank you for such a fun night, baby….”

“Anything for you baby,” Pol said, and she could hear the sound of them kissing, making Eliza throw up a little in her mouth.

“You never stopped loving me, did you?” Carlota asked in a sweet voice, one that was so sweet if Eliza didn’t know better, she’d swear she’d been seen and being targeted.

“Of course not, my beloved. My heart has always belonged to you.”

And it was with that final blow that Eliza choked back another sob, taking her jacket and bursting past them in another run, feeling Ricky hot on her heels, but missing Carlota’s passing insult as she left – though Ricky didn’t. “Oh, Ricky’s dating women now? Too bad she’s so plain looking…”

Pregnant or not, Ricky gave serious thought to slapping a bitch.

~*~

Some two hours after they’d arrived back in Lorenzo House, so too did its namesake, having rented a jet after hearing Ricky describe the events of the past several days, and recognizing as Ricky did that if they didn’t rescue this girl now, she was going to leave Europe forever, brokenhearted and maybe never trusting guys again.

Rather than try and disrupt things or talk plans or anything like that, Jorge simply toed off his shoes and went upstairs, finding the two of them passed out in the bedroom, again curled up against each other.

Hoping she wouldn’t scream in terror in the morning, Jorge edged in behind her, resting a hand reassuringly on her hip and his chin on her shoulder. 

Not that he planned to sleep at this point, anyways.


	15. Welcome to Lugano

For Jorge, the night had been restless, bits and pieces of sleep while mostly forcing himself to stay awake and keep an eye on the tossing and turning Eliza. He was more than a bit surprised when he eventually ended up with her in his arms, her curled close to him with her head tucked beneath his chin, and her arms wrapped around him tightly.

Not wanting to disturb her but wanting to keep her comforted and soothed, Jorge silently rubbed a hand down her back and stroked a hand through her hair, just trying to provide some measure of comfort to her as she slept. She at least wasn’t whimpering in her sleep as he had been when he’d first climbed into the bed, so he felt like he’d accomplished **something**.

Sometime a bit before noon Eliza finally started to rouse and when she drew her eyes open she just stared at Jorge curiously, finally asking him, “Was I _that_ out of it last night that I missed you showing up?”

“No,” He told her, still running a hand along her back. “I arrived after you fell asleep and joined you two to try and help provide some comfort to you.”

“Thank you.” Eliza replied quietly, letting her eyes shut again and staying curled close to him, almost like she was unwilling to face the world just yet beyond brief conversations.

“When you’re up for it…” Jorge started in an equally soft voice, “I have a proposal for you, one that will keep you in Europe, but away from the one who broke your heart…”

“I’m listening,” Eliza told him even though she didn’t open her eyes or even shift much, just tilted her head back so that her face was pressed to his.

“I could use a personal assistant. Someone who keeps track of every second of my day and keeps me on track because if left to my own devices I tend to be horribly late. The pay will be whatever you need it to be and likely more, and you’d have a fair amount of free time to explore my new hometown and continue your artwork at your leisure.”

“Why me?” Eliza asked with her eyes still closed, though she did just barely nuzzle against his neck as she awaited his answer.

“Because you’re a pretty little lady who’s been done wrong, because my best friend has been worried sick about you, and because I have the means to step in and help….so if you’ll allow me to, I will.”

“Do you really think I’m pretty?” Eliza asked as she drew her eyes open to stare into green eyes, finding the truth of the answer within, but still needing him to say it to believe it.

“I wouldn’t say it if I don’t mean it, pretty girl.” And at his words Eliza shifted a bit to give him the start of a hungry kiss but he gently pushed her back, voice soft. “Hang on there tigress, you hardly know me. I could be an utter prick for all you know.” But after another moment he added, “I’m not going to take advantage of you just because your asshole of an ex made you feel less than desirable. I can’t and won’t do that to you…”

Sighing softly, Eliza turned away, but not completely out of Jorge’s arms, mumbling to him, “he takes my virginity and now no one wants me…”

“I didn’t say I didn’t want you.” Jorge corrected her quietly. “I just said I’m not going to take advantage of you. And any sort of sexual type relations right now would be doing just that. So be mad at me if it makes you feel better, but know that my protests now are not from lack of interest…”

Sighing again, Eliza turned back towards Jorge, closing her eyes and just going back to letting him soothe and comfort her again.

Still, she wondered if anyone would ever find her desirable again, or if that was all just a cruel joke to take away her virginity from her.

~*~

Ricky and Jorge let Eliza sleep for another few hours – past lunch this time – before finally wake her up for good, tag-teaming to nudge her up to her feet and to follow them into the extensive kitchen as Jorge turned his attention to her. “You picked the right friend to stay with through this. Ricky is quite the cook.”

Raising her eyebrows, Eliza managed a dead-pan, asking, “Does that mean if I follow you, you’ll starve me?”

Jorge giggled – a real and true giggle she realized very quickly – and told her, “Nooooooo silly, I have a cook and a nutritionist. You can either eat as I do, or can order separate foods. Buuuuuuuut…” And this time it was his eyes that danced, the grin on his face contagious. “…I might not let you eat with me if you mock me with bad for me foods!”

Gazing at Ricky, he rattled off, “red meats by and large, pasta, desserts baring special occasions and then limited…what else am I forgetting?”

“Those pasta sauces, most anything you can find in a box with kilos of sodium…” Jorge continued before Eliza interrupted.

“But I fed you pasta with a sauce…” Eliza said, looking at Ricky in curiosity.

“You did, and it was good.” He replied while rubbing his belly, making her and Jorge giggle. “But that is one of many reasons I’m only ever going to be a mid-tier racer while Jorge is a Four-Time Champion.”

Watching Jorge puff up with pride, she smiled at him, confirming for the first time she was going to take him up on his offer. “I think we’re going to enjoy working together, campeón.”

“You’re going to work for me?” He absolutely beamed at that and Eliza found her head ducking, and that shy smile curling over her lips.

“Yeah, I am. I’ve just got to come up with another few days’ worth of work here to be able to pay off my last month of rent, since I’m not getting my security deposit back since a certain wolf pup scratched up my furniture…”

“Look, I know you’re probably as fiercely independent as I am, but let me take care of this for you, to get you out of here quicker. My pilot is chilling out in a hotel in Andorra La Vella. Ricardet can drive us with your stuff, and we can eat on the plane. It’s only about an hour flight for my plane.

Mouth agape at both his offer and how quickly he could move if he desired, Eliza eventually just focused on the one thing she could comment on. “Ricardet?”

“Little Ricky. His favorite pet name for me. He loves reminding me he’s older. Wait ‘til he realizes he’s older than you too…”

Jorge snorted, though his eyes danced. “A true gentleman never discusses her age with a lady. Especially pretty ladies.”

And when Jorge winked in her direction, Eliza knew she was taking the right direction with her life leaving Andorra behind. Craziest still, she wasn’t even sure where she was heading yet!

~*~

“Welcome to Lugano.”

“You couldn’t have picked a warmer tax haven to live in?” Eliza shivered and teased a bit in the extra furry coat that Jorge had insisted she wear, recognizing immediately it was one of his by a scent that she was already finding to be distinctly Jorge.

“Not and stay in Europe, no. Not and be able to live an existence where I can mostly walk around without anyone knowing who I am. My fans know I’m here though, so they do occasionally invade looking for autographs or pictures or such. There are far worse problems in the world one could have.”

Eliza shouldn’t have been surprised Jorge had gone philosophical on her in his answer, nor that he grabbed her more delicate bag of art supplies when they departed the plane and Alfa Romeo already warming, waiting for them. He’d made it clear he felt she had an insufficient quantity of both supplies and clothes, and that he would be intending to rectify both. She had at least argued to be able to do so on her own with his paycheck and she thought she’d made some ground there, but there was no way of telling with that Lorenzo smirk.

“I really think you’ll like the view…it was what drew me to this place. But I almost lost it before I got it. There was a fire last year, something about the builders and roofing tiles and flammable material in the ceiling of the second level. Thankfully, nothing was damaged beyond repair.” And soon enough they were at the house with the view, Jorge pulling the Alfa Romeo down a private driveway and just grinning in Eliza’s direction. “Opinion so far?”

“Pretty area. A city without the big, overwhelmingly stifling big city feel. Feels like several smaller towns weaved together into one big city…”

“That’s pretty much what it is. Lugano absorbed several smaller towns twice in the last 20 years…oh, and if you hadn’t guessed by the location, L'italiano è la lingua ufficiale.” And when Eliza stared at him for the sudden and fluent switch, he smiled and added, “Yeah, that’s language 4 for me. Catalan and Spanish as I grew up. English mandated by school and the motorcycle academy I attended, and then this in the last few years.” 

“Wow.” Was all Eliza could say initially and she followed him up the lower levels of his garage and into the elevator up to his level of the building – the 5th and 6th floors. When they finally stepped out inside his house, she gasped, and didn’t even wait for him to say or do anything, she just advanced to one of the expansive windows and stared out at Lake Lugano, looking back at him and wanting to reach for one of her sketch pads.

“Patience pretty, you’ll have plenty of time to draw today and the next few weeks. I figure we’ll gradually transition you into your role, letting you take over things as you feel comfortable. The easiest for you I think will be waking me up. I get up at 6:30 every morning. Marc, my fitness guru/nutritionist will be wandering around somewhere at that point, he lives here as well.”

As Eliza absorbed all of that, she found herself yawning once again and Jorge chuckled at her. “No surprise you’re exhausted. Here, let me lead you to your room, and you can take a nap. Where we’ll go from there will be completely up to you.”

Her room turned out to be across from Jorge’s, not quite sharing his amazing views, but still pretty surroundings. The last thing Eliza remembered before crashing on the bed was handing Jorge his coat back while his eyes danced at her.


	16. Jealousy

In the few days that Eliza had been in Lugano, she’d found that despite the language disparity, she felt comfortable in the city. There were enough American tourists that with a few gestures and her phone’s handy translator app, she could usually get across what she was looking for, or looking to do, or looking to go.

But on this day she was sat outside of Jorge’s house, curled up sideways in one of his deck chairs and staring out at nature. It wasn’t often Eliza did nature sketches – she far preferred people and their curves and expressions – but this one was too beautiful to resist. As she started to get comfortable, she shivered a bit and almost immediately felt a blanket dropped over her knees, and glanced up to find Jorge pulling another chair over beside her. “You looked cold.”

“Thanks J.” She told him with a smile and he once again grinned at her new nickname for him. “Couldn’t resist the view either?”

He shook his head and showed her a sketch pad of his own, shifting around on his chair much like she had to get comfortable and as she watched him for the moment, his tongue darted out in concentration, and his eyes focused far off in the future. Smiling at getting to share the moment with him, Eliza went back to her own drawing, some of the new pencils courtesy of Jorge – her favorite brand still, but in new exotic Italian names she’d never heard of before.

Looking away from the sunset to take a glance at her watch, Eliza drew her eyes back over to Jorge, running fingertips lightly along his drawing hand to get his attention, and once he looked over she told him, “Your bath time, Campeón.”

He predictably strutted at the other of the two nicknames, heading back inside but stopping at the door before heading completely in, asking her, “Do you think you can get the door when it rings?”

Furrowing her brow but nodding, their only guest so far having been Marc, who had taken over occupation of the third and final bedroom in the house and mostly kept to himself except around meals or workout times. Though Marc had warned Eliza she’d be taking a lot more of Jorge’s time once the season started, that his eating and workouts were very regulated and for the time being, Jorge had been relaxing a bit. 

Getting back into her sketch of the sunset, Eliza almost didn’t hear the doorbell ring, and huffed a bit when it did, not quite done with her sketch yet. But still she darted off inside and threw open the door, finding a smiling Ricky gazing back at her. “RICKY!” She cried out, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, genuinely pleased to see him, even if so unexpectedly.

“Hi best girl.” He greeted her happily, a suitcase behind him indicating this wasn’t just a short-term stay for him.

“Think we can hold off on putting your suitcase away? I’d love to finish the sketch I was working on before you showed up…”

Nodding his head, Ricky tugged the suitcase just inside the door and then grabbed for Eliza’s hand, letting her lead them both back out to the back veranda, settling in the chair Jorge had been as Eliza unknowingly imitated Jorge from earlier, tongue sticking out as she focused on the distance, carefully weaving the reds and golds of the sunset together.

Soon enough she finished the sketch and smiled over at Ricky, telling him, “Thanks…I was just so close to finishing, and the view was just so beautiful….”

“I understand.” Ricky told her. “Jorge is the same way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve caught him outside with a sketch pad, just drawing away. No one would really expect it from him, but it’s definitely a secret pleasure for him…”

Chuckling very softly, Eliza told him, “Before I sent him up for his bath, he was out here drawing with me. I’m sure we’ll find a similar piece of art hanging around somewhere to mine, since he was sitting in the chair you are now.” Grinning and rising to her feet, Eliza gathered up her supplies, tucking them neatly away in her satchel and then reaching for Ricky’s hand again, voice soft but content. “C’mon, let’s move you into my room. Then you can tell people that AGAIN you’ve been in my bedroom.”

Laughing softly at her, Ricky winked and told her, “For a gay guy, I sure do get to see your bedroom a lot!”

Returning his wink, Eliza just happily led him inside.

~*~

The next morning, after a night spent cuddling up to Ricky, Eliza got up early enough to wake Jorge up, and then ventured downstairs, newly purchased tablet in hand with Jorge’s schedule on it, running through the things they’d need to do on the day. Yamaha was unveiling new motorcycles and though everyone expected Jorge’s teammate to be there, Jorge was scheduled as a surprise guest to be there as well. So among many other things for the day, a flight to Barcelona was on tap.

Not long after Jorge arrived in the kitchen, so did Ricky, coming up behind Eliza to kiss the top of her head and give her a smile that didn’t quite go up to his eyes. “Sleep well, best girl?”

“I did, thanks to you.” She answered him, reaching over to give his hand a squeeze. And at Jorge’s raised and curious eyebrow, Eliza explained. “He’s my favorite cuddle buddy.” She swore she saw the briefest flash of jealousy in Jorge’s eyes at those words, but it was gone in an instant, and soon Marc had joined them all as well, giving Ricky a list of what to make up for the lot of them to eat.

Once the food was served up they all plowed through it in fairly short order before Eliza rose to grab her sketch book again and eyed Ricky, asking him, “Want me to work on your sketch?”

This time the smile did go up to his eyes and Ricky nodded, following Eliza out to the living room area, both of them in quiet conversation, talking about the existing drawing, the adjustments that needed made, and various other things, all while Jorge watched them.

“¿Celoso?” Marc inquired of Jorge, and Jorge shook his head no, but his eyes told a completely different story. “Vamos a ir a trabajar, eso te distraiga.”

Sighing, Jorge nodded, stretching his arms over his head before moving to follow Marc to his in-house workout facilities.

~*~

They’d arrived in Barcelona, heading first for Jorge’s house there to drop off stuff and get Jorge dressed before heading out to the arena where the presentation would be held, Eliza doing her level best to remain as close to Jorge as physically possible, whenever time and space allowed it.

Jorge had warned her that there was a strong likelihood that Pol would be there, and though she didn’t have any desire to see him, she wanted to make sure she looked and appeared strong and over him if he looked her way. They managed to get through the night with no obvious Pol sightings (though Pol had seen her and was quite aware of the protective way Jorge stood around her), and headed back to Jorge’s house.

“I need a soak in the hot tub,” Jorge announced once they arrived. “Anyone care to join me?”

“So that’s why you told me to pack a bathing suit!” Eliza exclaimed as she gave Jorge a nod and a grin. “Hot tub sounds fantastic. Let me get changed and you can lead the way.”

As she exited the room, Jorge started to follow, but Ricky’s voice stopped him. “Remember, she may look like she’s doing fine, but she’s still hurting. Don’t push your luck…”

“I know.” Jorge answered without looking back. “I’d like nothing more than to show her how a real man treats a woman, but I know I need to be patient.” When Ricky said nothing further to that, Jorge went up to his bedroom to change as well, meeting Eliza in the hallway and unabashedly looking her up and down in her bikini. “Pretty girl, red is a fantastic color on you.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re in love with red and white…” Eliza retorted with a laugh, letting Jorge grab her hand and lead her outside and then up the ladder to the hot tub, which Jorge had automatically turned on when they arrived back at the house. Moving to settle in opposite of Jorge in the tub, Eliza promptly reached for one of Jorge’s feet, massaging gently, murmuring at him, “Your feet must be killing you from all that walking and riding and standing around.”

“Mmm.” He answered as he slid a bit further down in the tub, letting both feet rest on her lap and willing himself not to do anything dumb like rub his foot against her crotch and try and get her off. Half-drawn open eyes gazing at her, he finally whispered in her direction, “You do that well.”

“My Dad stood on his feet all day for his job. It was my job to massage his feet when he got home from work.”

Nodding a bit, Jorge asked her, “What did your father do?”

“He was a janitor in the US Judicial Buildings. So lots of walking, lots of standing, not much chance to sit down and rest his feet…” Eliza explained to him, working on relaxing Jorge as much as possible. Drifting his eyes shut, Jorge was completely relaxed and almost asleep until he felt a splash of water hit him in the face and sputtering, he snapped his eyes open to find Eliza giggling and staring in his direction. “No sleeping in the hot tub!”

“Well then distract me if you don’t want me sleeping!”

Eyes darkening a bit, Eliza slid over to the other side of the tub where Jorge was and moved her face so that they were eye to eye, mouth to mouth, and inquired of him, “Distract you, eh?”

Jorge took a deep breath, again trying to keep control of the situation, but his resolve failed when Eliza leaned closer and nipped at his lower lip, tongue following suit and soothing the skin. Growling very softly, Jorge pressed his lips to hers, reaching for her to pull her onto his lap and just holding her close, the kiss rough but exploratory, two potential lovers getting to know each other for the first time.

But after another moment, Jorge was pulling back, panting softly as it were, and leaning his forehead against hers, whispering to her, “We can’t do this pretty girl. I’m a gentleman, and I’m not going to take advantage of you, even if it’s what we both want. Patience, and when the time is right, there will be no stopping.”

Eliza sighed again but wrapped her arms around Jorge’s neck, moving closer to cuddle him and finally whispering near his ear. “Just know I’m going to hold you to that.”

Not saying a word but kissing her forehead, Jorge thought to himself, ‘That’s what I’m banking on.’


	17. Malaysia Day I of IV

Day one in Malaysia was certainly a nerve-wracking one for Eliza. With Albert off in Team Suzuki’s camp with Aleix, Eliza and Artur were left to handle the usual firestorm around Jorge. Eliza had the master schedule, and whenever a journalist started to exceed their time, she’d rest her hand near Jorge’s knee, the signal to Artur to call the interview short.

They’d perfected the routine to a science, a hand near the knee, Jorge’s knee would bounce, and the next second, Artur was signaling to the reporter they were on their last question. As the time drew closer to lunch, Eliza was surprised to hear Artur bark out time, and before the reporter could even question it, told him, “She’s got another 15 minutes according to the schedule…”

“Okay but you…”

“No, that was on me…” Jorge said softly, almost too soft to be heard.

Reaching over and mussing with his hat, to his everlasting chagrin, Eliza whispered in his ear, “Play nice with those hands, J. You’re a gentleman, remember?” That earned Eliza a dark-green-side-eye but she just gave him a cat-eating-canary grin back, waiting until the interview was finished to drop her fingertips along his knee, laughing a bit (as Artur did as well) at just how much he jumped at the simple touch. “Yep, it’s time we feed him, Artur, he’s getting jumpy.”

Artur nodded and sticking his own tongue out at Jorge’s grump face, told her, “Your turn to babysit sourpuss, I’ll be on that detail mostly for the rest of the week, so give me the break.”

Laughing even louder, Eliza reached down for Jorge’s hand to pull him to his feet, but was a bit surprised when he didn’t immediately let go. Nudging him a bit and whispering near his ear, “Unless you want to get people talking…”

Reluctantly Jorge released her hand but followed close by her side as they went off to Yamaha’s master hospitality suite, where the 2 manufacturer teams and the 2 satellite teams were all operating under the same umbrellas. Seeing Pol was almost a guarantee, but at least Jorge had told her that girlfriends didn’t usually come along to these type of events.

Yet, no sooner had they opened the door then the Tech 3 team collectively turned their heads – Bradley and Pol as expected, but Carlota as well. Now it was Eliza’s turn to fight the urge to grab for Jorge’s hand but he surprised her and instead placed his hand on the small of his back, boisterously greeting the members of his team and leading Eliza in that direction.

The tables were set up about as far from each other as they could possibly be and still in the same room, and Jorge indicated that Eliza should sit near him, where she wouldn’t be in Pol’s frame of vision unless he made a concentrated effort for her to be. Eliza was enjoying this Jorge, who was far more jovial than interview-Jorge, who was a big old grumpypuss. She was even being a good girl and eating healthy like him, not teasing him with the pieces of chocolate cake she’d seen available for eating, either.

Just sitting back and relaxing, Eliza watch how Jorge largely did the same, including himself in a conversation periodically if he felt confident, but mostly letting everything ebb and flow around him. In fact it wasn’t until he rose to his feet and extended his hand to her that Eliza realized that their lunch hour had flown by and was already over. Giving him a quick squeeze in appreciation for being so protective, Eliza found herself on the receiving end of Lorenzo-smirk instead, and this time, no show of letting go the hand.

~*~

Eliza never knew how following a schedule could be so exhausting, but she was finally plopped out on one of the deck chairs on her balcony - where as fate would have it, she and Jorge were sharing a room thanks to overbooking and last minute attempts at rooming arrangements. Not that she objected. Physically, he was perhaps the finest specimen of a man she’d ever had the luxury of seeing, and she certainly wasn’t going to object to getting to see more of that hot body.

Even from there she could hear the door knocking and was pleased to see Ricky in his own shorts and t-shirt waiting on the other-side for her. Throwing her arms happily around her friend, she took him by the hand and led him back to the outside chairs, plopping back in one and hearing him sigh as he plopped into the other. “How’s Aleix’s day going?”

“Good, lots of media over there today for the two new boys in blue. He and Mack were very popular. How was the King of Crank?”

“An utter sourpuss around the media, and alternating between tiger and kitten in hospitality.” Pausing for a moment, Eliza told Ricky, though she figured he already knew, “Pol was there with Carlota.”

“Ahh…so your Tiger was lashing his tail protectively around you lest she try and start something, but otherwise was being his normal low-key self in hospitality….am I close?”

“You know you’re more than close.” Shifting the chair over until she was able to rest her head on Ricky’s shoulder. “The sourpuss kept flirting with me though, I think. We had this setup where I’d put my hand near his knee when he was done, and at one point, he seemed to purposefully move his knee near my hand. It threw off poor Artur, not to mention the interviewer. I reminded him that he said a gentleman keeps his hands to himself…”

Snorting a bit, Ricky told her, “After both Marc and I have reminded him of that several times of late. But the tension between you two is getting thick enough to cut with a knife as you English types say.”

Reaching her hand down to smack Ricky’s knee, she told him, “It is not. He keeps pushing me off anyways.”

“Only because he IS a gentleman. But if you keep flirting back with the kitten, you’re going to find the tiger comes out to play. And if you want some ideas how to enjoy your tiger, may I suggest when you get back here tomorrow, you find the skimpiest sleep outfit you can, either that you brought or can buy here, and where it. If you want a Spartan lapping out of your palm, you’ll have it.

Turning to gaze at Ricky with a bit of a side-eye she told him, “I’m not going to ask how you know that. But if you think it’ll work…”

“Oh it will. Just remember to thank me.”

Eliza smacked him again.


	18. Malaysia Part II of IV

The second day in Malaysia had been a long one for both Jorge and Eliza – she as she got more used to her position as her assistant, he as he got back into the swing of things racing once more. She’d joined him at the track to periodically remind him of tasks that needed doing but largely stayed out of the way, staying in the back of the Yamaha garage and out of sight of any patrolling cameras.

As the day came to a close, it was Eliza who headed back to their hotel first – and so changing into the pajamas Ricky had suggested the previous day – a thin t-shirt and matching shorts – Eliza headed out to the balcony to watch the world go by and sketch it as it did, so focused on her task, that she never heard the room door open and close, or even heard Jorge approach until he was right behind her.

“Dios mio, you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” He asked as he looked her over, eyes especially locking on the tiny little shorts, knowing it would take him very little effort to have her out of them and at his mercy.

Giving him a sideways smile, Eliza told him, “That wasn’t my intent, J. I just wanted to get comfortable for bed, and do some sketches…but if you had something else in mind…” And with that she tossed aside her sketchpad, moving to stand and lean back against the balcony railing, eyes all but challenging him to make a move.

“There will be no stopping this time…” Jorge told her as he mashed their mouths together, one of his hands circling her hip to keep her balance, the other threading into the tiny shorts, skin damp from the humidity that he was just as keen to think was wetness in anticipation of what he might do to her. Bending her upper body back over the balcony so that her head was dangling over the edge, Jorge’s fingers worked Eliza over, a thumb circling her clit while two fingers slid in and out of her over and over again.

It wasn’t more than a few minutes before she was crying out his name and trying to escape his invasive fingers but he had no intention of pulling away or stopping, leaning closer to whisper against her ear, “Angel, I am going to show you how a real man treats a woman. We’re not stopping until you pass out…”

Groaning and whimpering, both from sensitivity and the threat and promise of Jorge’s words, Eliza let him lead her back into the room by the waistband of her shorts, finding that by the time they reached their shared bedroom, the shorts were long gone. Moving to settle her on the edge of the bed, Jorge kneeled between her legs, burying his mouth into her crotch, tongue thrusting into her like a small, moist cock, licking up the wetness that had already pooled there and simply focused on trying to drive her wild.

So sensitive was Eliza from the first orgasm that it didn’t take much further contact from Jorge before her legs were shuddering again and she was once more crying out his name. Again she tried to shift away from the oversensitivity, and again he held tightly to her hips, reminding her, “I’m going to make you pass out, angel.”

Shuddering hard, and unable to do anything else, Eliza watched through dazed eyes as Jorge used one hand to strip himself while the other fingered her, sometimes barely thrusting in at all, sometimes sticking multiple fingers in and pumping them in and out like a cock. It didn’t take Jorge long to escape his clothing and he leaned over top of Eliza, rubbing his incredibly hard dick against her moistness and whispering roughly in her ear, “I’ve been wanting to do this since the first time I saw you. To make you feel me and scream my name over and over again until your throat is raw. You’re so fucking beautiful when you lose your mind…”

Still just shuddering hard and trying to clench her muscles around Jorge’s fingers, trying to send him a message of what she really wanted, he slide into her in one firm thrust, making her squirm a bit beneath him before she adjusted to his width, and before she could even think about anything further, he was thrusting deeply into her, his mouth capturing hers for a possessive kiss that had her eyes fluttering closed, breathing heavily through her nose from the sheer overload of pleasure.

And when Eliza finally broke their kiss, it was to cry out once more, certain she couldn’t take anything more, but feeling Jorge still thrusting away. “Oh **God** ,” she whimpered as Jorge suddenly wrapped his hand around her hips and flipped them over, so that she was on top of him and he had even more leverage to thrust inside of her.

“Ever done it like this before? Ride me, angel…ride me hard and squeeze those muscles tight.” Having a feeling almost like an out-of-body experience, Eliza nonetheless did what she was told, putting her hands on Jorge’s chest for balance and sliding up and down his firm cock. “That’s it angel,” Jorge groaned.

Moving as one unit they kept thrusting and going faster and harder, deeper and deeper until Eliza was hoarsely calling out Jorge’s name again and this time he finally followed her, spurting deep inside of her. Almost immediately he reached for her, pulling her down against his chest and kissing the top of her forehead, a hand moving to run soothingly down her back.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I? That wasn’t too much?”

“That…was amazing. I want to do it again. But not right now…” Eliza groaned, but it was a pleasant groan. “Right now I just want to curl up and float back into my body and fall asleep…”

“Sleep angel, I’ve got you.” And Jorge carefully slid out of her, for the time being not caring about the mess they were undoubtedly making, only caring about the pretty lady in his arms that seemed to be floating in and out of consciousness, but continued to try and carry on a conversation nonetheless.

“Never like that before. Didn’t even know that was possible. But next time, I want to taste you…”

This time it was Jorge shuddering a bit in anticipation as he clung to her tighter.

~*~

The next morning when Eliza’s alarm to wake Jorge up went off, she was so exhausted she slept right through it. Jorge fortunately heard it and disabled the alarm, then set about looking her up and down, trying to best analyze how he was going to wake her up and blow her mind for the morning.

Shifting her slightly so that she was back on her back, he used his superior strength to hold her hips to the bed, and then edged down it until his mouth was outside her center. With no preamble he started to suck on her clit, feeling her hips quiver as she drifted more awake. Smiling, but by no means done, Jorge curled a finger to push it inside her, adding a second quickly, noting with a wider smile that she was gasping herself awake.

“Buenos dias, angel,” He purred against her as she could only gasp a reply, wide blue eyes staring down the bed at him. “Would you like another ride to start the morning?” He thrusted his tongue into her a few times while he waited for her reply and eventually she was finally able to make some semblance of a response.

When she nodded her head, he rolled them again, spreading his legs and putting his feet flat on the bed, carefully pulling her on top of him, but before shifting her downward onto his hard cock he pulled her into a hungry kiss, biting and sucking at her lower lip as she could only whimper at him.

Slowly pushing Elia down, Jorge grabbed her by the hips and lifted her up, lowering her down onto his cock and feeling her immediately clench tightly around him. “That’s right, angel…just like that…”

Once she was steadily moving up and down on top of him he pushed his feet down against the bed to get more leverage, snapping his hips to bury himself deeper into her, hearing Eliza letting out low keening cries of pleasure. Deeper and deeper he went until she felt like she was going to be split in two, but it felt so good that all she could do was scream out his name over and over again. It was at the point that she felt like she was going to pass out again that the waves of pleasure rolled over her, and again her release triggered his, letting her feel his hot cum spread inside of her.

Collapsing down on top of him once her body finally stopped trembling, Jorge kissed tenderly along her face and neck, cradling her face eventually and whispering to her, “As I said earlier, buenos dias, my angel.”

“God, a girl could get used to getting woken up like that…”

Jorge’s eyes darkened immediately at her words and he kissed her slowly, whispering against her lips, “Your wish is my command.”

~*~

To say Pol had a restless night would be an understatement. First was seeing Jorge going down on Eliza on the neighboring balcony, then he had to hear Jorge make her scream out his name over and over again throughout the night, until finally her voice must have gotten too raspy to be heard through the seemingly paper thin walls. And if that didn’t beat all, they’d started up again in the morning, leading him to grab Carlota and take her down to the restaurant, where he found he wasn’t the only one who had seen or heard the sexcapades.

“I think to be able to continue to ‘ear, I will need to bring my earplugs from the track!” Valentino exclaimed to the group gathered around him and they all laughed, before Cal added, “I still can’t believe what they were doing in clear daylight where any of us could see them.” “Ehhhhh, is not so bad,” Vale retorted. “I think I get Linda to do that to me tonight, see if we enjoy it ‘alf as much as they did!”

Meanwhile, Carlota kept going on and on to anyone who’d listen about how cheap and whorish it was to put on that type of behavior, seemingly indifferent or unaware that no one besides Pol and Aleix were paying any mind, and Aleix was only doing it for his brother’s sake.

And so while they were the conversation of the rest of the paddock, Jorge and Eliza ordered breakfast in, unaware for the time being just how very different this day was going to be compared to the last.


	19. Malaysia Part III of IV

Entering into the paddock that morning, Eliza at least was surprised at how many sets of eyes turned their way, but she figured it could be due to the possessive way that Jorge was keeping her close, his hand tightly secured at her hip. They hadn’t really talked about what if anything would change with their work/life relationship…or if this even was a relationship…so for the time being Eliza was content to let Jorge do the leading, and figuring the talking could wait more in depth for their return to Lugano in a few days time.

“’ey teammate…I ‘ear you ‘ad a bit of fun last night...” Valentino teased his shorter teammate than added, “Actually, I ‘ear quite well. Those walls seem a bit thin.” Blushing, but only slightly, Eliza let her head drop to Jorge’s shoulder, feeling his hand squeeze her reassuringly all in the same moment. “But I was thinking. I say to myself, ‘Self, you can not let Jor-hay ‘ave all the fun.’ So tonight, Linda and I will experience the balcony, with ‘er on ‘er knees.”

Smirking a little bit up at his often rival and rare friend, Jorge told him, “You should charge admission, you could make enough to start at third moto3 team!”

The men both laughed and Vale patted Jorge on the back before moving to greet Eliza with the kiss on each cheek, surprising her a bit, but again, she just rolled with it. Waving goodbye to the lanky Italian, they were on their way, still feeling eyes, but now wondering just how much Valentino had talked to others in the paddock.

“Do you care?” Jorge asked suddenly in her ear, almost reading her mind, or at least leaving her wonder if she’d spoken her thoughts out loud, but when he just gave her that green-eyed gaze, she knew that they were simply on the same wavelength.

“No. I don’t. I’m a tiny bit embarrassed people may have seen or heard us. But I’ve got no problems in the least with what they saw or who I was with.” Leaning over to nip at her lower lips, Jorge smiled when that action too drew wolf whistles and he pulled back from Eliza once more to lead her into the depths of the Yamaha garage. “Can we relax in your room for a bit? I just want to draw you some more…”

Nodding, Jorge led them out the back of Yamaha proper and into the little trailer that served as his home away from home while at the track, and finding Artur inside, rubbing his temples with his fingers and just giving Jorge a look when he came in. “What this time?”

Shaking his head, Artur rose to his feet, grabbing his things. “You are incorrigible. At least remember to get on the bike every now and again, yes? That is what you’re here for…” 

“I was just going to draw him…” Eliza protested as she nonetheless swiped the seat the Artur had vacated. Artur gave them both a look like he didn’t believe him but he left the tiny trailer, leaving Eliza with a bit of a puzzled look on her face as she held Jorge’s eyes. “Do they all think now that all we do is fuck?”

“Well, we do it quite well, if I do say so myself.” And pausing as darkening eyes looked Eliza up and down, sat in the same corner as his leathers doing something to him that he couldn’t quite explain, his voice got a little growlier as he asked, “Still wanted that taste?”

Laughing softly but not even hesitating from moving straight to him, Eliza’s hands made quick work of Jorge’s jeans while he made a growly sigh of contentment.

~*~

“Well if isn’t the whore of Yamaha…” Carlota’s voice rang out over hospitality as Jorge and Eliza entered the building and several heads turned in both directions, seeming to see how this would play out.

Smiling over at Jorge, telling him silently with a quick eyebrow raise that she had it under control, Eliza purred over to Carlota, “That would be funnier if you understood the irony of your statements. But somehow I don’t see Polyccio translating this for you, will you, Pol?” And as Eliza gazed at Pol briefly she saw shock, shame, and agreement all quickly flash in those hazel eyes, but never one hint of disagreement.

Threading her hand with Jorge’s and leading them over to where he reigned supreme, that side of Yamaha was soon rolling with jokes and discussions from Jorge’s times on the bikes in the morning, with Jorge gesturing wickedly with his hands over what had been on particularly bumpy section of the track.

Meanwhile, on the other side of hospitality, Herve had Pol’s ear, whispering to him harshly, “Keep that girlfriend of your under control!”

~*~

When, after a particularly long day both Jorge and Eliza arrived back at the hotel at the same time, he didn’t attack her immediately as she was expecting and to be honest almost hoping for. Instead, Jorge gave her one of his dazzling smiles and told her, “Wait here angel, I’ve got surprises for you…”

Smiling again at the endearment, Eliza did advance further into the room, but only to see down and take her shoes off at one of the benches. As she did so, Jorge approached with two boxes in hand – one clearly a dress box, the other, a shoe box. “Campeón, have you been up to no good?” And despite himself he giggled at her, making Eliza’s smile widen as well.

Accepting the dress box from him first she found a beautiful red dress that would sweep down her hips and angle off just before her feet. It had no obvious neckline, and Eliza noted with some amusement the gentle way the dress would appear to make her waistline slimming, as well. “Matching shoes, as well.” He told her while looking up at her from her feet, and after a moment he leaned in closer, carefully giving her a soft kiss so as not to crush the dress or make her drop the shoes. “In the room there’s undergarments and stuff…” And he waved in that direction, blushing a bit as he did so.

Eliza couldn’t help giggle at him. “You can finger me to within an inch of my life on that balcony, but saying panties or undies gets you red in the face? You’re adorable J, you really are…”

“Shut up.” He told her but he didn’t stop smiling, nor blushing either. She followed him off to their giant master to get dressed, purposefully making a show out of putting on every layer as he watched, though he did try and prepare himself at the same time. The black suit suited him well, and the cuffs were pressed so immaculately that his Momma would have been pleased. Finally, they were just waiting on him to tie his shoes and he held out an arm to her, letting her ease in close to him and lead the way.

She had no idea where they were going, but she was certain that they would have an unforgettable time.

~*~

They arrived at a seemingly quaint little restaurant sometime later, with Jorge again indicating the way but always remaining at her side. But it was once inside that Eliza gasped in amazement, for the tables were set up like individual flower petals, cocooned off from each other, but still giving way to the amazing views of the outside world.

“Where in the world did you find this place, J?”

“A gentleman must always keep his best tricks secret from his lady.” Jorge replied with wiggling eyebrows as they were lady into an elevator Eliza hadn’t even seen and up to the highest point possible, leaving Jorge offering his thanks to the hostess as she moved on. “It’s a good thing I knew you weren’t afraid of heights…”

Laughing a bit nervously, Eliza told him, “A little bit. But that’s part of the experience, no?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” Jorge told her as he led her to their table and encouraged her to sit, following her a short time later so that they were side by side. “Tonight I just wanted it to be us. Kinda like those nights were we’d sit out on the deck and sketch until the sun went down or you sent me in for my bath…”

“It’s perfect J…I just wish I had my sketchpad.”

Smirking a bit, he told her, “Check your purse, my angel. I’m sorry I could only manage to add that and the black pencil, but I know you’re more than talented enough to work with just that…”

As she gazed into Jorge’s eyes, all Eliza could think was how quickly it seemed he’d grown to know her, and her likes and dislikes. And how much she did trust him even outside of her box.

She only wished that she knew how he really felt for her.

Nuzzling her neck, and picking up on her vibe, Jorge grabbed one of the water flutes and indicated she should do the same, tapping his with hers before whispering a soft ‘salud’ and then drinking the water. Threading their fingers together, he leaned his head against hers, telling her softly, “To first dates and many more.”

Neither was surprised when the other turned to grant the other a soft kiss.


	20. Malaysia Part IV of IV

Neither Eliza nor Jorge were surprised when Movistar Yamaha ‘decided’ to ‘close up shop early’ on the 4th day of testing – they had both bolted to the airport straight from the track with all their luggage, since they had all been well aware the closing things early was coming. Instead, they sat in a fancy lounge in Kuala Lumpur’s airport, waiting for their flight to Dubai, which would then take them onward to Milan, where finally Jorge’s plane would be waiting for them to catch the 8 minute flight to Lugano.

Jorge had been making all sorts of threats and promises on how they’d be spending that ‘quickie flight’ but Eliza kept reminding him that he still needed to manage to drive home after that, and that two could play at their little games.

Soon enough, their flight to Dubai was boarding and they happily settled into their business class seats, reaching through the separating partitions to hold hands. Once again they were the peaceful couple, despite the promise of sexpoits ahead.

~*~

Midway through what had to have been his 20th or so straight lap on his bike, the satellite team left to do the majority of their parent teams testing, Pol could have sworn he read “BOX” on his pit sign as he flew past. But that would have made no sense – they’d already had lunch time and there was nothing logical to keep him off of the bike unless they were looking to try different settings, which they hadn’t indicated they intended to do. So staying out that next lap, Pol checked again, confirmed the sign did indeed say BOX and that time he came in.

Hopping off the bike as it came to a stop, it was Herve who pulled him aside, barely allowing the rider to get his gloves and helmet off before telling him with wider than normal eyes. “Polyccio. You need to get to the hospital. There is something wrong with your girlfriend.” At first, Pol thought that there had to have been a mistake, and that this was some sort of sick joke the team was playing for her being such a pain in the ass of late, but then Herve was saying, “I will go with you, ok?? I will go with you.”

Too much in disbelief to manage any words, Pol shrugged out of his leathers and jogged back to where his regular clothes where, and where he’d last seen Carlota, but there was no sign of her or her stuff, and Pol just found himself being dragged around by Herve like some sort of ragdoll.

All too soon they were at the nearest major hospital and Pol was asking around in English for any information he could, finally finding someone who was able to tell him “She is in surgery now, but will be out soon.”

Having a moment of rational thought but not having the foggiest idea off the top of his head what time it might be in Andorra. “Lau?” He cried, when his sister in law answered, so relieved to hear a familiar if for the moment calm voice, he continued, “Help me, they took her and brought her into surgery and I have no idea what’s going on?”

“Whoa whoa whoa…who did they bring? Carlota? What was happening before the surgery?”

“I don’t know!” he cried, tears streaming down his cheeks in frustration.

“Could it be the baby?”

And it was those 5 words that stopped Pol’s world, spun it off its axis and then shredded it to pieces. “Oh my god, why else would she be here so suddenly, and in surgery to boot? Something must be happening to the baby…”

If Laura had any other thoughts in any other direction, she was wise enough not to voice them and just focused on being the calm voice Pol needed, trying to distract him away from hospital stuff until Herve suddenly was back around again, this time bringing a man he said was Carlota’s doctor.

Bowing in greeting, the man explained to Pol in as gentle a voice as possible. “Your girlfriend, she is ok. She is in a lot of pain right now, but she ok. We give her very strong pain killers.”

“And the baby, my baby…” Pol clung to his phone, knowing that Laura could hear at least some of what was going on in the background.

“I’m sorry, but there is no longer a child.”

~*~

“You are evil. So so SO evil.” Jorge growled at Eliza as she laughed and massaged his balls through his pants more, waiting until they finally pulled up at his gated apartment to pull her hand away, fully intending to run up the stairs to escape from him and worry about luggage later. “Oh hello phone, we must finally have signal again…”

Noticing at the same time Jorge did that their phones chirped back to life, it was Eliza who looked up first, telling Jorge. “I have a missed message from Ricky.” 

“So do I.” Jorge informed her and they stared at each other a moment longer before each were reading their respective texts.

_R- >J Bro, look after E. Carlota lost the baby and I don’t know how she’s going to take that._

_R- >E Sweet girl, I don’t know how to tell you this, but Carlota lost the baby._

Reading the texts, Eliza’s eyes closed immediately, her first thoughts drifting to Pol and how brokenhearted he must be. Feeling a hand snake into hers, she squeezed Jorge’s hand in response, even though the mental image in her head told her ‘that could have been you and Pol. That could have been your baby.’ … and she felt a slow tear trickle down her cheeks at the thought. Taking a shaky breath, even as she could feel Jorge unstrapping her seatbelt with his other hand and pulling his hand away to get out, Eliza shivered against the seat unmoving.

For it was the next image that truly haunted her, the one she didn’t know the answer to. What if it had been her and Jorge, and that their baby?

Her mind held no further rational thought as he carried her upstairs and to one of the deck chairs, putting one of his jackets on her and wrapping her feet in one of the blankets. Settling down beside her, Jorge slide a hand into hers again and once more received a squeeze in response, but it was the only signs of life out of her.

~*~

“What would you have done if it had been me pregnant with your baby instead?”

“I’d have cried a thousand tears and fought with anyone who tried to keep you from me…” came the immediate response, now from the body in the same chair as hers rather than the next one over. The jacket had been replaced by one of his hoodies, and the blanket covered both of their feet.

“I don’t know what to say, to do, to Polyccio…my heart hurts for him.” She admitted, not seeing the momentary sting that caused the man behind her.

“Let’s give them time and space for now, and in a few days, send a card to Andorra that we’re sorry for their loss. I’m sure they’ll end up there at some point. Ricky or Aleix can let us know what’s going on.”

Nodding her head just slightly, Eliza curled up more on Jorge, her head settled on his shoulder while his arms circled her waist to hold her close. “It couldn’t have been me. I have an IUD. I had one put in at Christmas when I was in the States…”

“Do you want babies?”

“I dunno. In time, when it makes sense. That doesn’t feel like now.”

“I feel the same way. On one hand I am older than you, my momma would be very much liking little green-eyed grandbabies to spoil rotten. But as long as I race…”

He didn’t continue the thought and Eliza just turned to kiss lightly along his face before their lips caught, slow and meandering and nothing but love motivating it.

Eventually, as time started to slip away, and day turned into night, Eliza asked him softly, “Will you take me to bed, J?”

Without even answering, he simply scooped her up in his arms once more, bringing them both to his master bedroom for the first time and he carefully laid her down on the bed. Eyes looking her up and down, this time there was no hunger in his expression. Carefully he eased her out of socks, shoes, and more until she wore nothing but a pained smile. And it was only then he stepped out of his clothes, closing and locking his bedroom door behind.

Laying on top of her, stomach to stomach, nose to nose, ankles to ankles, Jorge continued the kiss from earlier, the one that meandered around each other’s mouths and just seemed to last forever. He grabbed both of her hands with each of his own, holding them above their heads and just barely shifting up her body until his head was inching inside of her, tiny, barely noticeable little thrusts pushing him in until he was fully sheathed.

Choosing that point to break the kiss, he whispered against her lips. “I know you hurt. I hurt for you. I understand your hurt and wish I could take it from you so you never had to feel it again. But I accept your hurt for what it is. This is me, telling you I’m here. And I will be. So just feel me, angel.”

And they did.


	21. Home

The next morning after her D&C and with Pol having spent the night curled tightly around her, Carlota was released from the hospital. They were cautioned against her flying, that the position she’d be in would likely be more painful for her, but after persuading more painkillers out of the Doctors, the couple was sitting in the lounge in Kuala Lumpur’s airport.

“Mr. Espargaro, a word with you, if you wouldn’t mind,” said one of the Emirates reps, and Pol rose to his feet to follow the man off to a desk area. “I wanted to inform you that you and your girlfriend have been upgraded from Business Economy to First Class, and that we’re very sorry for your loss. If either of you need anything on your flights to Barcelona, don’t hesitate to contact an attendant and we’ll do everything in our power to provide it to you.”

Pol could only gape at the man and after a moment quietly thanked him, knowing that upgrade would have cost him a small fortune, but that it would allow them their own private suite and more comfort for Carlota to heal. Going back to her, he rubbed his hand down the back of her neck, finding her gazing up at him with bleary eyes and he kissed her forehead, telling her simply, “We’ve been upgraded to first class. So you can rest the flights away if you want.”

Nodding, Carlota just looked like she was ready to doze off again, and Pol kept stroking his hand through her hair until she finally passed out with her head on his shoulder.

~*~

Curled up again in one of Jorge’s deck chairs, Eliza wasn’t all that surprised when he came up behind her, hands settling on her shoulders and chin on the top of her head. “What would you like to do today?”

Managing a half smile that she knew he could sort of see, she answered him quietly. “Silly question, J. The real question there is are you up for joining me?”

“I can be convinced. So long as we don’t disrupt the schedule too much. Don’t want a cranky Marc.”

“I am not convinced Marc is capable of being cranky. Yours or the Jaja King.”

Chuckling softly at that, Jorge kissed the top of Eliza’s head and went back inside the apartment, coming out several minutes later with both of their art supplies, handing her the sketchpad and a pile of pencils while he settled across from her with an easel and some paints. “I haven’t used these in ages you realize. Sketching is easier on the fly…”

“I know J. I just want you to paint me a picture.”

“For you, anything.” He told her, blowing her a kiss from around the easel as she smiled at him.

In time they both grew distracted into their respective pieces of art, Eliza again focusing on the mountains and lake behind him, and Jorge focusing on her. Every now and again, Eliza saw Jorge’s head peak around with his tongue sticking out, and with a small teasing smile she told him, “You seem to stick that tongue out awfully often…”

This time peaking over top of the easel so that only his eyes were visible, he wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I’ve got it on good authority that’s part of my appeal.”

She laughed for a moment then shook her head, rising to her feet to go over to Jorge to give him a proper kiss, telling him as she did, “That stuff is an added bonus. Your appeal is how you care about people and take care of them. Whether they’re ‘just’ working for you, or in your life for more…you make sure everyone is taken care of. Including me. Like last night…”

Reaching his hand up to drag his fingertips along her cheek, Jorge told her, “I wish I could have done more. But I’m glad I could do that.”

She started to try and peak at his painting but he reached up to cover her eyes, going, “Nuh-uh. You wait until I’m done. Now go back and sit down or I’ll start making jokes about drawing you like my French girls.”

“Well I do have the maid’s outfit for that…” Eliza teased as she nonetheless sat back down, curling up once more and making herself comfortable in the chair. Again her head turned and she gazed off at the mountains, starting to sketch again while Jorge once again concentrated on his painting of her.

~*~

“I wonder what Pol and Carlota are doing right now?”

Glancing at his watch but being sure not to move enough to disrupt Eliza from his shoulder, Jorge answered, “Landing in El Prat after being upgraded to first class for their entire flight from Malaysia.”

Inhaling but not immediately responding, Eliza tilted her head to gaze at him – Jorge just continued to gaze at the movie – Titanic as it were – on the TV. “That was what you were up to so early this morning, wasn’t it?”

Again shrugging just slightly, Jorge told her simply, “It needed doing. And I can easily afford it so…”

Taking a deep breath, Eliza moved to curl on Jorge’s lap, head tucking in beneath his chin and feeling his arms wrap tightly around her almost immediately. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess right now. I’ve got you and you’re my everything and yet I’m mourning over something that never was…”

“It’s a natural reaction. You loved him, even if you feel like he didn’t share that sentiment. He hurts, so you hurt, even though part of you has moved past it all, you still ache for him. And there’s no timetable on grief, angel. Just know I’ll be here…”

“That’s one of the few things I can bank on right now.” Eliza whispered to him, contorting herself up to kiss him tenderly, losing herself into him and the kiss, and for the moment at least, forgetting about all of the other dramas in their lives.


	22. Starting Over

It had been a restless night for Jorge, much like the first night he had Eliza sleeping in his arms. This time however, he’d spent the night thinking about their relationship, how it had progressed, and how he’d not really given her any time to heal from the breakup with Pol. He felt guilty, like he’d taken advantage of her, despite his desire to be a gentleman.

He watched her as she slept, a bit restless herself, but clinging tightly to him even in sleep, one hand resting against his shoulder, while the other wrapped around his waist. Quietly, Jorge ran his fingers through her hair, then gently squeezed her neck before letting his fingers trace over other areas of uncovered skin. Eliza was wearing sleep pants and one of his t-shirts, so there wasn’t as much exposed skin as there had been in Malaysia but Jorge didn’t mind. 

He felt like he needed to get to know her all over again, to learn, to understand what made her tick, even though they so often seemed on the same wavelength. But being on the same wavelength didn’t escape that she was still dealing with a broken heart and perhaps wasn’t ready to be dealing with him as a lover.

That didn’t mean he had any intention of breaking things off with her – but he did intend to slow things down, let them get to know each other better than they already did. Go out on more dates, explore Lugano together, help her learn Spanish and Italian…anything so that they would be more like a true couple and less like two fuck fiends.

When Eliza’s head tilted up slightly from where it was tucked beneath his chin, Jorge leaned down to kiss her lightly, just brushing his lips against hers and then kissing along the rest of her face, over the plains of her cheeks and along her closed eyes. Slowly, she eventually drew her eyes open and gazed up at him, a bit of a smile curling over her lips and he simply whispered to her, “Good morning my angel.”

Her smile grew wider at that and she nuzzled closer to him, asking him softly, “How long have you been awake, and how long do we have until the alarm goes off?”

“Doesn’t really matter, on either count.” Jorge told her as he fingers slid through her hair again, smiling as she pushed her head up into his hand for closer contact. “I owe you an apology angel. My intentions with you were good from the start, to be the gentleman you deserved, to make you feel like the angel you are, but I screwed up…”

Furrowing her brow up at him, Eliza asked, “How so?”

Giving her a slight smile, Jorge explained, “I knew your heart was still broken and I wasn’t patient enough to wait to let it heal before I pursued you. I don’t regret that I’ve got you, or at least some of you, but I regret that I pushed you before you were ready…”

Pursing her lips slightly, Eliza told him, “I’m a big girl, capable of making my own choices, J. Maybe I’m not completely over Pol yet, but I’m attracted to you. If anyone is to blame for the conflicts in my head and heart right now, it’s me, not you. All you’ve done is take care of me…”

“Even still…” Jorge started, even as Eliza wrinkled her nose as him. “Even still, I want to do right by you. That’s not to say I want the sexual aspect of our relationship to slow or end, or whatever, but I think we need to properly date, get to know each other more so than we already do, if this is going to work out for us. And I don’t know about you, but I want it to work out…”

“Maybe more slow, less frenetic?” Eliza questioned, recalling the love-making of the other night, how at peace it made her feel despite all of the conflicts.

“Exactly.” Jorge agreed. “I can still touch you…” And he paused to run his fingertips over her covered breast, feeling her shiver against him in response, “But I don’t want that to be all I do, we do. There’s more to us than just sex, I hope.”

“I think there is. You make me feel comfortable, taken care of. We share so many interests, and being with you is like being with my best friend. You make me feel safe.”

“I hope I do for a long time.” He told her, bringing his hand back up to run along her cheek, again feeling her lean into the touch. “So I was thinking that today maybe we flew back into Milan, and just checked out museums there. Bring our sketch pads, draw as we feel like it, and then maybe catch dinner in a nice but not too fancy restaurant. What do you think?”

“What about your schedule, your workouts, your diet?” Eliza questioned even as she continued to rub up against the hand that stroked her face.

“They all can wait a day. Today, I want to spend time with my angel.”

~*~

Bundled up in warm jackets and holding hands, Eliza and Jorge wandered art museums in Milan, Jorge having arranged a private viewing of the Last Supper, which simply left Eliza whistling in appreciation of the fantastic artwork.

They’d gone to about half a dozen different museums – big and small alike – stopping in a small market to pick up food for lunch – when they finally decided it was time for dinner. They found a restaurant called Entrée, and found it to be almost as cozy as the restaurant they’d dined in while in Malaysia. Sitting close, and still holding hands, Jorge translated the menu for Eliza, then ordered for them both once she’d decided what she wanted.

“This has been a good day.” Eliza said to Jorge in a hushed voice, smiling when his green eyes lit up at her words, and a wide smile crossed his face.

“I was hoping you would say that. Any time with my angel is good time, but I think seeing things we both enjoy so much just made it all that much sweeter…”

“Campeón, we could have spent time on the couch in our pajamas, and it would have been a good day. This was special. You make it special with all the care you show.”

Jorge’s smile grew wider at her words and he leaned over to kiss her gently, glad that she was so happy, glad that she’d enjoyed the care he’d shown to try and make it a special day for them both. “Do you want to fly back to Lugano after this, angel? Maybe make some popcorn and watch another movie? Or just cuddle on the couch until it’s time for bed?”

Nodding her head at him, Eliza told him, “I’d like that a lot. You already know you’re my second favorite cuddle buddy…” And at Jorge’s pout, Eliza laughed, teasing him, “Don’t be jealous of Ricky, Campeón, because as much as I adore him, I’m most definitely not his type, and you most certainly are mine.”

Still pouting a bit, Jorge’s eyes nonetheless danced, telling her, “Someday, I’ll be your favorite cuddle buddy.”

Eliza could only laugh softly and cuddle up to him closer.

~*~

Cuddling had been the call of the night, and Eliza sat on Jorge’s lap facing him while a movie played softly in the background, something neither of them were watching at all. Instead, they were both touching each other lightly, bare touches on arms and any other exposed skin, both learning the others secret sensitive spots.

“Would you like a repeat of the other night?” Jorge asked her softly as he kissed the spot beneath her ear that made her tremble against him.

“I would…” Eliza whispered breathlessly, gazing into his eyes and asking, “Here, or upstairs?” 

“Let’s go upstairs…” Jorge answered just as soft, and before she had a chance to move, he was scooping her up in his arms, adoring eyes staring at her the entire while. While she curled closely against him, he carefully navigated the stairs until they were at their room, and he lowered her on to the bed as though she was the most precious thing in the world.

This time, it was Eliza wordlessly stripping Jorge out of his clothes, slowly, worshipfully, just exposing skin inch by inch. When she was done with him, she made a small show out of getting out of her own clothes, feeling his dark eyes on her the entire time. Laying down on the bed, she beckoned him closer until he was laying on top of her, much as he had the other night – face to face, chest to chest, ankle to ankle.

“I had a wonderful day…thank you…” Eliza whispered against Jorge’s lips as she felt him smile and he momentarily kissed her a little bit deeper before pulling back, gazing at her with inquisitive eyes. “It’s ok, I think we can still kiss like that and be ok…”

Nodding, Jorge leaned back in to capture her lips, his tongue investigating her mouth as though he’d never done so before, not his usual possessive kiss, but one that still managed to be soft and gentle. They kissed, lightly touched each other and whispered conversations for the better part of 30 minutes before Jorge hardened, and it was only then that he again started the slow shimmy towards pushing inside of her, gasping softly into her mouth at the tightness that met him.

Soon enough he was grabbing her hands again, moving them over the top of her head and just thrusting slowly, barely moving at all as she took slow, shaky breaths. Staring up into his eyes, Eliza whispered to him, “You make me feel whole again…”

Giving her a crooked little smile, Jorge just captured her lips once more, both of their eyes fluttering shut as they continued their slow love-making, with no signs of it ending any time soon.


	23. URGH

Not quite time for his own days of practice, Ricky nonetheless headed for the track. One of his sponsors – Northweek, a sunglasses company – had decided they wanted to get all their riders together for photo shoots, and this was the day that was to happen. To be fair, Ricky had absolutely no interest in being there, of being with anyone of the same sex, or doing anything that didn’t involve him strapping onto a bike and forgetting about the world for a while.

But as long as sponsors paid the bills, he was obligated at least to appear at these sort of functions. And as the fates would have it, his ‘partners’ in crime were none other than the reigning Moto2 and Moto3 champions in Tito Rabat and Alex Marquez. But Tito was nowhere to be seen and Alex was sitting on a pit wall looking bored.

“No accomplice?” Ricky inquired as he sat on the side of Alex, eyeing him curiously and noting he didn’t quite look in Ricky’s direction.

“No, he’s still off flirting with the Dribble Dots girls. Don’t get me wrong, I suppose they’re pretty but…URGH.” And the face he made to go with his ‘urgh’ had Ricky chuckling.

“Now are they urgh because they’re women, or urgh because they weren’t attractive women?” Alex glanced around, looked Ricky up and down, and didn’t immediately answer, leaving Ricky to trust his gut and inform the younger man, “Well, for me the ‘urgh’ would be because they’re women. There’s only one woman I’ve made out with and she’s dating my best friend…”

Alex’s eyes bulged out of his head. “Is Jorge aware of that?”

‘Ah, so you DO know who I am,’ Ricky thought. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, and besides, it was a unique set of circumstances. Not even that girl can un-gay me.”

Still glancing around, as though he expected Tito or cameramen to pop out at any moment, Alex told him in a soft voice, “The urgh would be because they weren’t attractive women, and for the most part, most women aren’t to me.”

“Ahhh.” Ricky nodded, winking at the younger Marquez and telling him, “So the world is your oyster, you don’t have any preferences either way so long as they strike your fancy.” And he paused a moment, still looking the younger up and down and asked, “You’re living in Andorra with your brother, right? Would you want to go out sometime? I know of some good discrete places…”

Alex could only stare at Ricky. “What about Jorge??”

“What about him? I could ask the same thing about your brother. What does either have to do with me asking you out?”

“You’re not going to tell him I’m…not straight…are you?”

Rolling his eyes, Ricky told him. “Yes. Yes. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.” And getting in his best hunchback of Notre Dame pose, he hopped forward going, “master, master, the Marquez, it is gay!”

“Okay, when you put it that way, I do sound foolish.” And Ricky nodded his agreement. “Hey, it’s not nice to agree with me. Wait. Oh fuck…”

“I don’t know you well enough for that.” Ricky deadpanned, delighting in the crimson way the younger's cheeks went.

“You’re mean, you know that?”

“Nah, I’m not really mean. I’m just having fun with you, or trying to, and you’re making it really easy. Am I making you that nervous?” And as said nervous eyes looked up at Ricky from Alex’s seated perch, he received his answer. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to make you nervous. It’s just there’s so few…guys like us…in the paddock…it would be nice to go on a proper date with someone who isn’t after me to get Jorge’s autograph…”

“Or Marc’s.” Alex lamented before he finally nodded his head. “Let’s do that then. Where do you want to meet?”

“There’s a restaurant in Anyos. If you can get to the village, I’ll take you there. Deal?”

“Deal.” Alex agreed, as they shook hands on it, and both tried not to notice how warm the others hand felt in their own. All too soon Tito was calling out and joining them and they were being forced to model sunglasses after sunglasses.

But Ricky most certainly caught the little smiles Alex threw his way every so often and Ricky himself found he had more of a bounce in his step in anticipation to the whole thing. Maybe it would work out. Maybe it wouldn’t. But if nothing else, it would be nice to know someone else in the paddock whom he could share laments about bad dates with!

~*~

Upon arriving at Restaurant Can Pere, Ricky led Alex inside to find Dave, the lone remaining owner, greeting customers as they came in. “Ricky! Good to see you again…and where is…”

Cutting him off before he could say the name, Ricky responded, “We shall not speak of him ever again. We are over. Done. Kaput.” Pausing to glance up at his young companion, whom he could see was curious by the exchange, he continued, “This is my...friend…Alex. We share a passion, and I promised him a good meal…so here we are.”

“Ahhhh…first date?” And when both men blushed profusely, Dave grinned and told them, “Say no more. You know I’ll take good care of you, Ricky. Alex, it was a pleasure.”

And off they were led to cozy little tables, the 20 odd seating building only perhaps half full on that evening, probably an even mix of gay and straight couples.

“So you’ve come here often before,” Alex questioned, and Ricky sighed a bit before responding.

“I probably should have brought you somewhere else, but I’m not sure there’s a place in Andorra I hadn’t been with…him. But this is one of my favorites, and the ambiance always makes me feel like I’m at home in Cataluña.”

Tipping his head, and letting his hand casually rest on the table, Alex asked, “Sometime, would you tell me about him?”

“Isn’t much to tell, really,” Ricky retorted, unable to hide the bitterness from his voice. “Dated for the better part of 10 years, where he’d break up with me every so often so he could pull a girl, and wanted to do it again and I’d had enough. So I am single and not necessarily enjoying it.”

“I see.”

“How about you?” Ricky asked, trying to turn the attention away from him and Jonathan, really not wanting to think of his ex any more than he had to.

“Well, you’re the first guy I’ve true and proper gone out with. I’ve pulled a couple guys in random bars in random cities when I could before Marc did his shit…”

“…and you did yours too, Mr. Moto3.”

“Yeah, yeah. Either way. Proper dates, girls. They’re largely too picky and annoying or just too emotional or sappy or just…”

“Urgh?”

“Yes, URGH.”

And when Alex made the face to go with his Urgh, Ricky started laughing again, for the time being truly enjoying his evening.

~*~

When the meal finally ended and dessert was had and shared, Alex waited until they were outside the restaurant proper and leaned in for kiss, surprised when he was rebuffed by a hand and a soft voice telling him. “I’m not ready for that yet, I’m sorry. But I could do a hug?”

And so nodding, Alex leaned into the hug instead, rubbing the back of Ricky’s neck and whispering to him, “We’ll do this again sometime. Maybe some place with less bad memories for you, ok?”

And staying silent and still for the longest of time, Ricky finally just barely nodded his head in Alex’s direction.


	24. Massage

It had been a long day for Jorge, with Marc working him a full 8 hours for the first time in several days. He ached everywhere and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but Eliza had promised him a massage if he could stay awake long enough for it.

Settling down at the end of the bed, where Jorge was laying on his stomach, Eliza started working on his feet, touch firm yet gentle, as she tried to work the tension out of his body. Ever so slowly she advanced up his body, pushing and massaging at the taut muscles on the back of his legs, hearing him groan slightly as she did so.

“Feeling any better, J?” She asked him softly, and his only response was another soft groan. “No falling asleep on me there, babe.”

He snorted a little bit, voice low and a bit growly, asking her, “Like I could possibly fall asleep with you touching me like this?”

She laughed softly and ran a fingertip along the elastic of his boxers, watching his entire body jerk and tremble at that touch. Moving to shift up his body, Eliza sat on Jorge’s ass, hearing him groan even loader as she pressed his body into the bed. “Like that, do you?”

“Like isn’t the proper word for it.” Jorge growled, trying desperately to remain still to not ground his hardness into the bed.

Laughing very softly again, Eliza started working on Jorge’s lower back, leaning closer to him slightly to put more of her weight into the message, still trying to work on getting as much tension out of his muscles as possible. “Y’know…” She started as she drew fingertips along his hips to make him twitch again. “You’d look awfully damn sexy with a tattoo on your hipline. Maybe your number. Maybe something else. Either way…it would give me an excuse to run my fingers along your hips…”

Voice still growly, Jorge answered, “I’ll give that consideration.” And he groaned again, still trying his level best to stay as still as possible.

Slowly, Eliza moved her hands up Jorge’s back and to his shoulders, being extra cautious with the shoulder and collarbone that weren’t quite as strong as the other. Finally, she was squeezing the back of his neck and then running her fingers through his hair, hearing him make another grunty, growly noise in her direction. “Why don’t you roll over now, J?” She questioned as she moved to shift up off his ass, giving him the freedom to roll.

As he did roll, Eliza immediately noticed the reason for the grunting and growling – her sweet boy was hard enough to pound nails. Reaching to trace her fingers over the outline of the bulge of his boxers, Jorge whimpered, begging her, “Please don’t tease.”

Nodding her understanding, Eliza rose to her feet, shimmying out of her clothes and then reaching up to tug Jorge’s boxers off, pausing before doing anything further and leaning down to give him a soft kiss, whispering in question, “Feeling any better now?’

“I will be if you can do something about my dick…” He replied breathlessly and again, Eliza nodded.

Positioning herself to sit on top of him again, at least initially sitting on his stomach, Eliza leaned down to give Jorge another soft kiss, letting her tongue explore his mouth as she shifted her hips downward until she’d captured his hardness, ever so slowly ‘riding’ him as they both trembled at the sensations.

“I don’t think I can ever get enough of you.” Jorge whispered to her between gaspy breaths.

Eliza’s only response was to grab for Jorge’s hands, squeeze them, and then clench her muscles tighter around him.

~*~

Long after they’d both succumb to each other’s ministrations, Eliza lay with her face pressed against Jorge’s neck, her arm draped over his hip and her fingertips tracing random symbols along his skin. Kinda drifty, but at least mostly coherent, she asked him, “Do you think you could paint a card for us to send to Pol and Carlota, sending our sympathies on their loss?”

“Mmm. Definitely can do that. Just not right now. Someone wore me out…” He teased as he none the less turned to kiss Eliza’s forehead, complete adoration written across his face.

“Eres el major.” 

A radiant smile filled his face and he answered in English, “I don’t know about that, but I try, I try so hard to be everything you could want or need. It’s been so long since I’ve been in a real relationship, where someone wasn’t after me for their own fame, or my money or just the notoriety of being with me…”

“Are we in a relationship now?” Eliza questioned, lifting her head up to better gaze into his eyes.

“Yeah…yeah I think we are. Don’t you?” He asked, a bit of trepidation in his question, and his teeth sinking nervously into his lip.

Bringing her hand up to separate his teeth from his tongue and smoothing over the spot with her own thumb, Eliza answered him, “I guess I do, J. I’d never really thought about us that way. But I guess we are…”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” Jorge bit on the lip again, even with Eliza’s thumb trying to get in his way.

“Yeah, I am. It just caught me by surprise, not in a bad way…” And this time Eliza kissed along his lips, lightly seeking entrance until he finally granted it, rolling a bit more on top of him again so that they were closer than before.

“So that card…” Jorge whispered between kisses, “Will be the first thing we do together as a couple.”

“A couple of what’s?” Eliza asked with a giggle, but before she knew it she was on her back and pinned to the bed, getting tickled to within an inch of her life despite loud protests.

~*~

But the giggles soon ended an instead it was Eliza’s turn to groan and try shifting around the bed from underneath Jorge’s smooth touch. He’d grabbed a massage oil – violet he said – and had started the process of massaging down at her feet, but kissing the skin soon after. So an ankle might be massaged, but a toe could be in his mouth, being sucked lightly on.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had oil?’ Eliza questioned as she continued to shift, already aroused by his touch and trying not to lose her mind without him even properly touching her.

Jorge laughed as both of his hands worked up the fronts of her legs to them twitching hard in response, telling her yet again in a teasing tone, “A gentleman never reveals his best secrets.” Pausing for a moment as she shot him a look he teased, “Besides, you never asked.” He easily avoided her attempt to smack then pushed his hands up higher on her legs, right outside her most sensitive areas, but purposefully avoiding them, even as she whined and protested.

“Relax angel, we have all the time in the world.” And thought she tried to relax, she found it nigh impossible with his hands all over her body, rubbing in the oil and then massaging the skin afterwards, loosening tension she wasn’t even aware of having with each touch he made. Soon his hands traveled over her stomach and she thought she might get some relief when he finally made it to her breasts, but he bypassed them completely, working her arms instead and leaving Eliza making frustrated but tiny little thrusts off the bed, humping the air waiting for him.

“Campeón, pleaaaaaase. I need you…” She whined and so when he finally moved over to massage her breasts to her low cries, he carefully but slowly slide inside of her, feeling her clench around him immediately and try and pull him as deep as he would go.

And despite his large hands somewhat holding her down, Eliza pushed up against his hands, shifting to be able to almost sit on his lap and wrap her ankles around his ass. Even Jorge couldn’t help groan at this new, tighter, more intimate position and he kissed her hard as their eyes fluttered shut, just once more focusing on losing themselves to the other again.

And for the second time of the evening, they made each other their own until one was finally screaming their release with the other following closely thereafter.


	25. Mourning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the chapters with Carlotta, presume the conversations around her are going on in Spanish. I'm just a) too lazy to translate it all and b) kind enough to not make you have to do the same. Any English with her will be specifically mentioned as such.

They’d finally made the trip back to Andorra, with Carlota sleeping the entire two-hour drive, still under the effects of the painkillers provided to her by the Kuala Lumpur hospital. Pol had half-helped, half carried her from the vehicle when they arrived, with Eina being held back by one of his cousins. Soon enough he had her inside and tucked up on their bed, surrounding her with extra pillows in case she needed one. It was only then he let his cousin release Eina, who came bounding in to sniff, as though there was something different about her somehow. The fact that his dog realized that too broke Pol’s heart even more and he had to exit the room, heading to the living room to put his head in his hands.

It was Aleix who came in to sit beside him, to wrap an arm around his shoulder and ask him softly, “Why don’t we go skiing today? You could use a distraction, not to mention some training so that you’re ready to go again when we have to go back there at the end of the month…”

Pol just shook his head initially, mumbling at his brother, “Someone should be with Carlota, I shouldn’t leave her, we need to be able mourn together, you don’t understand…”

But it was a mostly awake Carlota standing in the doorway who told Pol, “Go. I’ll be ok. If I need company, I’m sure Laura would come over and visit, right Aleix?” And when Aleix nodded his head in agreement, she went back to the bed, leaving the two brothers staring at each other.

“I’m not sure I want distracted from my mourning.” Pol admitted to his elder brother, and Aleix squeezed his shoulder.

“I think you need it, Polyccio, I think you need to remember what life is like without being immersed in tears.” Sighing, but rising to his feet, Pol shooed Aleix off then headed back to the bedroom, whistling Eina off of the bed and leaning down to kiss Carlota before grabbing his ski clothes. 

“I promise we won’t be gone long,” Pol told her and she just shook her head at him.

“Be gone long. It’s fine. I’ll just watch TV or something with Laura.”

Just staring at her for the longest time, Pol finally sighed and nodded his head, moving to strap Eina in her harness and prepare for an afternoon of skiing and distraction.

~*~

He had no idea how long or even where he and Eina had been going. He just knew that when he yelled ‘Vamos!’ she ran the proper way a husky should, mushing through the snow and leading the way for him to follow at a healthy clip. But at some point, he just dropped to his knees in the snow, the dog pulling away for a moment before turning back, and noticing her master in tears, coming closer to lick the tears away.

“Why does no one seem to understand how much I hurt?” Pol asked the dog, even knowing he wouldn’t get an answer. “Why does no one else, even Carlota seem to hurt as much as I do over this? I could have, should have been a father … now what am I Eina? Did I cause this? Did grumbling at her in the hotel and hospitality stress her to the point that she lost the baby? Is this all on me?”

And the longer Pol asked questions, the most the dog licked his face, trying to provide the comfort her master so desperately needed.

As it grew darker, Pol finally sighed and crawled back to his feet again, his ‘Vamos!’ no longer as strong or encouraging or before, but Eina seemed to understand enough to adjust the pace, and soon the pair were heading back towards home, back towards a future Pol no longer felt certain about.

~*~

“I want you tonight, Polyccio…” He’d been curled up at her side at her words, almost asleep even, when the suddenness surprised him and threw his eyes awake.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Pol asked Carlota, staring at her with wide hazel eyes as she gave him a coy little smile.

She nodded her head, telling him, “The doctors said I could after a few days and I just want you again, I want to feel normal again. Can you do that for me, Polyccio?”

Biting his lip but nodding, Pol moved to edge off the bed and stripped himself, no preamble to it, just ridding himself of his sleep clothes while Carlota did the same. But when he reached into the drawer to grab a condom to continue with, he was quite surprised when she went off on him in spades.

“What are you doing with that? Do you not trust me? Why would you even think of grabbing one of those?”

Shivering a bit, as much from her rage as the sudden chill that went down his spine, he told her very quietly, “I thought you’d understand. I’m afraid to be a father again, even more afraid to lose another baby again…I’d rather not take the chance…”

Staring at him defiantly, Carlota told him, “No condom, or no sex. And if no sex, you’re not sharing this bed with me.”

Hanging his head, but equally defiant in his own right, refusing to bend and risk another situation where his heart would be shattered, he told her, “I’m sorry, I love you, but I won’t be dissuaded from this.” And grabbing for his clothes and whistling softly, Pol headed out to the TV room to sleep, Eina curling up at his feet.

~*~

“You do such beautiful artwork, J.” Eliza told him as she leaned over his shoulder, watching as he carefully made the rainbow bridge appear on the card in front of him, then adding in more details to make it look more realistic – a rock here, a few strands of grass there – before it was completed and laying on his easel to dry.

Giving her a shy smile, not at all the usual confident campeón she was used to, Eliza leaned in and brushed her lips over his, feeling the smile on his face widen as they came in contact with each other. Taking a step back to run her fingers through his hair, Eliza tilted her head off to bed and Jorge nodded.

The card still needed to be signed by them both and mailed to Andorra come morning, but there was plenty of time for that still.


	26. Bashful

Curled up in close, not yet time for Jorge to get up and start his day with Marc, it was instead time for he and Eliza to have their morning chat. “I have it on good authority Ricky has dates this week.”

Laughing at him, Eliza ran her fingertips down Jorge’s stomach, smirking a bit as it tightened before telling him, “I have it on better authority, because I’m the one who picked out his dating outfits.”

‘So? He’s kidnapping my motocoach….”

“Yes, he did. But I know who he’s dating.” Eliza said with a grin as Jorge stared at her with wide eyes and a look on his face like he was ready to pounce and tickle her at any given moment.

“Hooooooooooow is it you know this and I don’t?” He protested, more than a bit of a pout on his face though his eyes danced.

Eliza smirked at him, again running her fingertips over his stomach before answering simply, “I asked.”

Jorge opened and closed his mouth like a fish a few times before shifting to pounce her, laying her flat on the bed with her hands pinned down and his eyes dancing devilishly. “So tell me my angel…who is Ricky going to be corrupting my coach with?”

Grinning up at him, even with her hands pinned, Eliza answered simply, “You ask him if you want to find out.”

“I tried, he wouldn’t answer me.”

“Maybe he’s afraid it’s someone you’d protest?” Eliza questioned as she shimmied her hands out of his loosening grip and used them to yank him down on the bed on top of her, a hand going through his hair immediately in a soothing manner.

“As long as he’s not seeing one of Vale’s academy kids, I really don’t care.” And when Eliza paused, he said, “He is, isn’t he? Oh for christs sakes…those kids are babies…”

“I don’t THINK the guy he’s seeing is a baby or Italian…” Eliza told him as he let himself get pulled back down again, nuzzling the top of her head and kissing it. “He’s got a Spanish name at least.”

“Next thing you’re going to tell me is that he’s dating a Marquez.”

“Um.” And Eliza glanced into his eyes, giving him a sheepish smile, telling him, “Surprise?”

“Oh boy. I’m pretty sure little Alex is legal, but I can’t see Marc approving of this. He’d probably figure Ricky was trying to mess with him for me by way of Alex…”

“Sounds like Marc needs a girlfriend to distract him from such nonsense and realize that his brother simply has a new partner who shares a passion with him.”

“Mmm. Was that supposed to be what you were doing? Talking me down if I got up on a high horse about this?” On Eliza’s head nod, Jorge sighed a bit. “I’ve known Ricky more than my entire adult life. Who he dates is up to him. Just so long as he cleans up my coach afterward. Last thing I want is to step in a used condom…”

“Ewwww.” Jorge laughed at her eww, and shifted to pin her again, eyes darkening in her direction.

“You amuse me, angel. You go eww at the thought of it in a condom but think nothing of me spurting it inside you or on you.” Jorge clucked his tongue a little bit as she shook her head at him.

“That’s different. When it’s you doing it, it’s sexy as hell.”

“Oh really?” Jorge questioned as he shifted around a bit, rubbing himself against her and feeling her try to press up against him. “Are you wanting me to be sexy?”

“If we have time for it, sure.”

Laughing softly as he effortlessly pushed inside her, Jorge leaned down to capture her lips, whispering to her, “Angel, we always have time for this…”

~*~

Since the first failed attempt at a date a week and a half earlier, Ricky and Alex had been continuing going out, with the endings still largely staying as hug, though Ricky did risk one quick kiss that had Alex wondering if he was imagining things.

This time, they were both in Valencia – Ricky in Jorge’s borrowed motorcoach, and Alex sharing one with his nosy brother and equally nose teammate-brother in Tito. Both wondered who and where the youngest kept sneaking off to but he’d thus far escaped their tracking. 

With it being the first night of testing, Ricky had invited Alex over for dinner, nothing too heavy, a chicken and vegetable meal that, weather permitting, he intended to cook on the grill for them. When Alex arrived at his appointed time, he snuck a quick kiss from the surprised Ricky then headed inside, relaxing on one of the spotless white coaches that lined the modern motorhome.

Soon enough, Ricky was following him inside, plates of food in both hands, that he balanced carefully to head inside, smiling happily at Alex when his eyes landed on him. “I hope you like. It’s not much but…”

“But you made it, just for me, while we’re in the middle of testing. That’s a lot. And I appreciate it.” Alex told him with a smile, leaving Ricky’s cheek a fine shade of red.

Indicating the other should sit down at the breakfast lounge, Ricky set both plates up then went off to grab silverware, moving comfortably around the place as if it was he who owned it and not Jorge.

They sat and ate, with Alex looking up at one point and telling him, “this is really good, thank you.” Which again made Ricky’s cheeks that same fine shade of red. “and you are really easy to make blush.”

Ricky’s eyes narrowed in a playful manner and he retorted, “Just you wait, Marquez, and the turn’ll be yours to be going red. Or maybe I’ll see what else I can do to you…”

Both men shivered at Ricky’s words – Ricky, unable to believe he’d actually voiced them, and Alex by the open-ended threat or promise, depending on how he was looking at it. Waiting several minutes, until they were at least most of the way through their meal, Alex whispered to him, “I’d **like** that.”

Gulping around his chicken and indeed trying not to choke on it, Ricky stared at Alex wide-eyed, finding the younger man trying to show more confidence than he obviously felt, and Ricky took a long shaky breath, nodding a bit and mumbling, “After dinner.”

And so with those words hanging in the air, the two finished up their meals, just staring at each other for the longest time before Alex rose, leaving Ricky to wonder what he’d do next. But he grabbed the plates and brought them to the sink, washing them out and only then turning around to face Ricky, wide brown eyes making him look more like a doe than a championship winning motorcycle rider.

It took them both several minutes before they advanced on each other, Ricky starting with a light, almost bashful kiss before Alex took control, nipping at Ricky’s lower lip and eventually seeking entrance, to which he was almost immediately granted. Leaning the smaller man back against the refrigerator, they made out for the next several minutes, tongue and teeth clashing for possession.

But when Alex tried to slide his hands under Ricky’s shirt, the older backed away slightly, shaking his head with his head ducked down, leaving Alex to ask in a very soft voice, “What did he do to you to make you so afraid of your own body?”

“I’m not afraid.” Ricky retorted immediately even if he wouldn’t look up. “I’m just...uncomfortable. Stupidly, I guess. The only one who’s ever touched me before was him, and look how that ended up…”

“I’m not him.” Alex reminded him immediately, moving back forward for a lighter kiss, one more soothing than possessive. “But if you don’t want me to touch you, I won’t…not yet, at least.”

Shivering at the promise as much as his own worries, Ricky looked up and locked eyes with Alex, telling him, “I’m sorry if I seem like I’m leading you on. I really like you…” And he bit on his lip, unsure of what further to say.

“What if you touched me?” Alex asked, dark eyes locked on Ricky’s and leaving the own man trembling again. “You could show me how you like to be touched...when you’re ready for it…”

And something finally seemed to snap in Ricky and he threw himself at Alex, touching and letting himself be touched, hands sliding under each other’s shirts and both getting thrown to the floor as Ricky stood on his tip-toes while Alex spread out his legs, trying to even out the height differential. Soon it was Ricky leaving a possessive mark on Alex’s next as he cried out in pleasure, and that seemed the encouragement Ricky needed to proceed further.

Rubbing Alex through his pants, the older’s voice was low, teasing, but definitely filled with desire. “What if I sent you home just like this?” And squeezing again to make his point. “Thinking of me, thinking of me touching you just like this…what would you do?”

Alex groaned and head Ricky’s gaze telling him, “I’d be jerking off in a very cold shower and doing my level best not to scream out your name so that Marc and Tito don’t try to come hunt you down…”

“Mmm. While you better be off. And if you’re good…. maybe there’ll be more than touching.” Giving him one last squeeze, and still not looking completely like he could believe what he was saying, Ricky gave Alex a smoldering kiss, leaving them both to catch their breath as Alex finally exited.

As he did so, Ricky slid down the door, eyes wide and panicked and wondering what in the world he’d just gotten himself into.


	27. Changes

On the second day of testing, Ricky again invited Alex over for dinner and ‘maybe more’, but neither was quite sure what that would mean, or what if anything would happen.

The previous night, Alex had sent over a multimedia message of his hard cock before he took his cold shower, and Ricky had found himself staring at it often ever since. That proved somewhat difficult though since his team didn’t know he was gay, and heads would have rolled if they’d spotted him staring at a cock on his phone. So Ricky kept his phone locked tight, and prayed the Alex wouldn’t send over any filthier pictures while he was away and they might pop up on his lockscreen for others to see.

Planning on cooking again once Alex showed up, Ricky surprised them both when upon Alex’s arrival he wrapped his arms around his neck and gave him a tender kiss, whispering to him, “I’m glad you came back…”

“No place I’d rather be.” Alex responded, leaning down to rest his forehead against Ricky’s.

Closing his eyes, Ricky just relaxed into the moment, letting himself forget about Jonathan for once and just focusing on Alex, and how comfortable the younger made him feel, how right their relationship – or whatever it was at this point – felt. They’d proven they could talk about most things, they could enjoy each other kisses and touches …. It just felt right. 

Grabbing Alex’s hand and tugging him further into the coach, Ricky indicated the spread of food on the table and said to him, “I hope you like sushi.”

“Probably not as much as the Espargabros do, but I’m good with it.” Alex answered as he moved to sit at the breakfast bar opposite Ricky, grabbing a set of chopsticks, and loading up his plate with a variety of things.

“I don’t think anyone like sushi as much as those two,” Ricky said with a laugh. “They’d eat it constantly, every meal of every day if they could!” Smiling at Alex and watching him as he ate, Ricky inquired, “So do your brothers know where you are or are you still keeping them guessing?”

“Keeping them guessing. I mean Marc knows I’m bi and that I’m obviously spending time with someone in the paddock, but he hasn’t figured out yet that it’s you. Probably for the best, as we said, he’ll be paranoid at first.”

Ricky made a small tsk noise then took another few bites of sushi, eyes again closing in pleasure as he enjoyed their meal. Feeling a hand brush against his, he drew his eyes open again to find Alex smiling at him, and he asked him simply, “What?”

“Just enjoying touching you, that’s all. Now that you’re letting me do it, I don’t want to stop…”

Ricky blushed at that, a slight frown curling over his lips and ducking his head, he whispered back to Alex, “Sorry that I’m so screwed up. I like you, I do… I’m just…”

“Your ex did a number on you, I know. And it’s going to take me time to prove to you I’m not like that, that I’m not going to flit away to the first girl that strikes my fancy and leave you behind with a broken heart. I may be young, but I’m not stupid…good people don’t behave like that…”

Taking a deep breath, Ricky reached out and took Alex’s hand in his own, not saying a word, just touching him.

~*~

Pol had been staying as close to Carlota as she’d possibly allow him to in the days since they’d been home to Andorra. He occasionally went out with his brother and sister-in-law, and Carlota herself occasionally ventured out to do God knows what, but by and large, Pol wasn’t leaving her side.

That was not without its issues, however. Carlota seemed to be wanting more freedom, more time to do as she wished and Pol just wanted to stay close, to mourn with her over their lost child. But it didn’t seem like they were on the same page.

Worse for Pol was he’d been sleeping on the couch near constantly because he refused to have sex without a condom and Carlota refused to have sex with him if he wore one. So the ongoing conflict left Pol to a very sore back and a husky puppy that wasn’t leaving his side for hardly anything.

Yet still, Pol tried to venture into the master bedroom at night, tried to sleep with Carlota, but almost every time he’d be close to sleep, she’d proposition him, and the argument would begin anew.

“Why are you so insistent on using condoms all of a sudden? You never used to…” Carlota complained, giving him a scowl as she folded her arms beneath her naked chest.

“I’ve told you before…I’m not willing to risk another child at this point, another miscarriage. This one hurts too much, I can’t deal with it again at this point.”

“So what you’re saying is you don’t trust me to take birth control and keep from getting pregnant.”

“I didn’t say that!” Pol exclaimed, voice starting to get frustrated from the constantness of this argument. “Though maybe I should. I mean, you got pregnant in the first place while supposedly on birth control and I wasn’t using condoms…”

“Oh sure, blame this all on me. I suppose you’re going to blame losing the baby on me too?”

“NO! I wouldn’t dream of doing that, but for Christ’s sake Carlota, we can’t keep going on like this. I can’t even share a bed with you because you aren’t willing to unless I ignore my own wishes and risk another child…”

“So then maybe we just should be through. You obviously don’t want me.”

“I never said that,” Pol cried out. “I never said any of that. Why are you putting these words into my mouth?!?”

“It doesn’t really matter, does it? You’re getting what you want. No worries about getting anyone pregnant again, because you’re be single. I’ll pack up in the morning. In the meanwhile, I’d suggest you go out to the couch.”

Dumbstruck, and just shaking his head, Pol could only do as she said and go out to the couch, not letting her see the tears trickling down his face. First he lost his baby, and now he was losing its mother. What next?

~*~

For the first time, Ricky and Alex had spent the evening touch and feeling each other, massaging each other through their pants and otherwise just making out with each other. It was still a strange feeling for Ricky – a different set of hands, a different mouth, a different touch completely – but he liked it… a lot.

So when Alex indicated he’d need to sneak back to his brother’s coach, Ricky was reluctant to let him go. Pushing the larger rider down onto one of the couches, he went for the zip of Alex’s pants, tugging it down so that he could get better access to the other’s cock. Alex groaned immediately and thrust up into his hand, just that action alone turning Ricky on more than he thought was possible.

Before he was completely aware of what he was doing, Ricky was tugging down Alex’s pants and boxers to his knees, and leaning over him, taking the younger man into his mouth and using a free hand to stroke and massage his balls.

“Oh **God** ,” Alex cried out, trying to thrust into Ricky’s waiting mouth, but Ricky used his other hand to place his hand on Alex’s stomach, keeping him from thrusting too much. Slowly, almost torturously slow, Ricky worked Alex over, the flat of his tongue running along the vein beneath Alex’s cock. He hummed occasionally, working on creating vibrations, while the younger just shuddered against the couch. “Ricky... I’m going to…”

And Ricky just sucked harder, trying to bypass his gag reflex to take Alex even deeper if possible, and in doing so he finally triggered the younger man’s orgasm, hot liquid spurting down Ricky’s throat as he swallowed it all then sat back on his knees with a sated look on his face.

For several minutes Alex just sat on the couch gasping, trying to catch his breath as he stared down at Ricky, deep brown eyes finding a matching set staring back. “I can’t…believe…you did…that…” Alex gasped and Ricky managed a bit of a smirk.

“I can’t believe I did either but your reaction…Lord… that so made it worth it…”

“Do you think maybe I could stay here tonight? I could sneak out early in the morning so no one would catch me…”

Ricky stared at Alex for the longest time before nodding, reaching for his hand to pull him up off of the couch, and then pulling it out into a sleeper sofa. Once they were both finally settled on the bed, Alex tucking himself into Ricky’s side, Ricky whispered against Alex’s ear, “Maybe I’ll do that again in the morning, to wake you up…”

Alex could only groan in response.


	28. Dicking Around

Less than a week after they’d tested Valencia, testing found Alex and Ricky in Jerez, with a similar motorcoach plan, except that Tito had opted to sleep with the team, and Marc wasn’t scheduled to show up and spy this time. With that freedom, Alex and Ricky intended to spend more time in Marc’s coach.

They just had no way of knowing that Marc had never _not_ intended to show up, that he’d driven the motorcoach down himself and was hiding in his bedroom in wait, knowing at some point his brother would make an appearance, though hopefully not in that room of the coach!

So when Alex was backed into the coach by a passionate Ricky, kissing him hard, he was interrupted by two different coughs, shocking him so hard he almost choked on his own tongue. “What the hell are you doing here?!?!”

Leaning his arms across his chest in intimidating big brother pose, Marc said, “Could ask you two the same thing. So this is who you’ve been sneaking off with, Alex? One of Jorge’s minions?”

“Excuse me, I’m standing right here, and I’m no one’s minion.” Ricky felt Alex move to stand behind him, to wrap his arm around his waist, a silent show of solidarity from the two lovers.

“My little brother and Jorge’s biggest confidant and you expect me to believe this is happenstance?”

“No, I asked him out after I confirmed to him that I would be running off to Jorge with information that the Marquez was gay.” And pulling out Alex’s grasp, Ricky got back in his hunchback of Notre Dame pose and started hopping around, proclaiming, “Master! Master! The Marquez, it is gay!”

Marc just stared at Ricky for a moment, clearly trying to figure him out before Alex pulled Ricky back in again and told him, “He’s telling you that you’re being an idiot, idiot. In the exact same way he told me I was being foolish.”

“Look, not too long ago I got out of a 10-year plus relationship. I’m not the type who’s going to dick your brother around, and in my experience, neither is he.”

Smirking a little bit and whispering in Ricky’s ear, “I dunno, I have it on good authority you **like** it when I _dick you around_.” Ricky’s face went crimson at the words, and he tried to elbow Alex in response, but the younger was too lithe, too quick to be caught so easily. And laughing in an eviler imitation of his brother, he just held Ricky’s head body length away from him, so that Ricky’s attempts at tickles were swinging at air.

“You think you’re so funny, Marquez? Will you still be making that devious laugh when I tell your brother what you said?” And at that Alex dove to try and cover Ricky’s mouth but he twisted his grip away and looked at Marc and told him, “Yes, your brother that I did not need to corrupt has it on good authority I like it when he dicks me around.” Marc just stood there staring at them, mouth opening and closing like a fish, the joke obviously clear to him and after a moment Ricky relaxed back against Alex again, voice soft, asking him “Think we should go back to Jorge’s coach for the privacy?”

“That would probably be a good idea.” Alex said in a bit of a louder voice and he went to grab for Ricky’s hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Wait...what were you going to do here?”

“Here?” Ricky glanced at Alex on off his nod that he should answer, he continued. “I’d have cooked for your brother, we’d have probably pulled out his bed or wherever he normally sleeps here, made out for a bit, and once we got tired, curled up together and gone to sleep.”

“That sounds so...normal.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Marc. That’s nothing ulterior about Ricky, ok? Now if you excuse us, we’d like the privacy we thought we were going to have…”

~*~

Having spent almost the entirety of the past week of Carlota’s absence curled up on the couch that had been his home while she was there, he’d made it a habit to avoid phone calls and pretty much any other contact to the world. No funny puppy Instagram’s, no witty Facebook or Twitter posts. Just a man and his dog.

So to say he was surprised when his door opened and one of Carlota’s friends came in, being escorted by Laura, who of course had a key. “Before you say anything to protest, Polyccio, listen to Ana, and every word she has to say, ok?”

Grunting, Pol nonetheless moved to sit up and cover his boxers up, then gazed at the young woman he’d seen on more than a few passing occasions. “What do you want?” He asked her dryly, then moved slightly as Eina shifted to lick at his face. “Eina, down.”

“I have some things I need to tell you about Carlota. It’s important.” Waving his hand in a go-on gesture she bit her lip and then said, “To start, we saw you on your date with that girl, that night you were dancing. We were all in the same club. We followed you back to her place, saw you kiss her and saw you drive away.” Her voice going softer, she added, “We’re the ones who egged her place.”

“I didn’t even know anyone egged her place, she never told me.” He replied equally softly in Ana’s direction, waiting for her to continue her story.

“Carlota, as you can imagine, was angry, upset. So she decided first that she was going to get pregnant on purpose the next time she got back with you so you’d be obliged with her. But then watching you with the girl and realizing you might not be breaking up with her, she decided that she’d tell you that she already was pregnant…and she’d skip her shot, so that she’d have her period, and could claim she’d lost the baby….”

By this point Pol was on his feet, staring at the young girl in shock. “You’re telling me that there was no baby, that I spent a small fortune on unnecessary hospital surgery, and I’ve been mourning for no reason?!?” Flipping the table in front of him, Eina went diving for safety as did both of the girls.

“POLYCCIO, CALM DOWN!” Laura yelled at him and Pol could only stare at her.

“Calm?” He asked in an eerily calm voice. “You lose the one you love to the one you don’t, because you think you’ve stupidly knocked one up, and then watch her fall in love with another man who absolutely worships her... who went to the effort to paint a fucking card that they both signed apologizing for our loss!” Shaking his head and staring back into his kitchen, his back to them both, he said, “Get out. Both of you. I need time – alone – to think.”

“But Pol…”

Heavy breathing was the only thing that greeted Laura.

~*~

Sometime after they’d finished their dinner and were starting to open out Jorge’s extra pull-out bed, the doorbell went and they both peered at each other. “You expecting someone?” Alex asked and on Ricky’s head shake, he added, “Neither am I.”

With Alex ducking off to the bathroom to be out of sight, Ricky opened the door, then stared at his new arrival. “Marc? What do you want?”

At the mention of his brother’s name, Alex peered out of the bathroom and down the hall, calling out, “What the fuck, Marc?”

“I come in peace. Honestly. I just...was missing my brother. And know that I know where he is, I was hoping to spend some time with you guys. And hopefully not need bleach for my eyes afterwards, but it was a risk I was willing to take.”

Ricky shrugged a bit and opened the door wider, telling him, “We were just getting ready to pull out the couch, but we can leave it down and pull out Jorge’s PlayStation. He’s always got the latest Call of Duty games and things like that…” Alex flopped down on the far side of the couch so that Ricky would be in the middle but Ricky shook his head, nudging Alex to the middle. “He’s here to see you, not me.”

“I’m actually here to see you both. Just to see…watch…how you interact. And apparently play Jorge Lorenzo’s PlayStation.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll thoroughly disinfect it before we give him his coach back. Among other areas getting disinfected…” And Alex started up with his devious version of Marc’s laugh, leaving Marc staring at him for a moment before he joined in.

Ricky just stared back and forth between them for a moment and groaned, wondering if he could really survive two Jajajaja-ing Marquez brothers for any length of time!


	29. What is Love

It had been a long, painful day for Jorge in Malaysia. In testing the Michelin tires for the 2016 season, he’d had a high side that left him sore and achy. When he got back to the hotel, he wanted nothing more than to curl up with Eliza and let her make him feel better, but he found her to be…distracted…when he arrived.

“What’s going on, angel?” He questioned as he stroked a hand through her hair, smiling when she pushed he head up into his hand.

“Just…had a long talk with Ricky. And it’s given me a lot to think about.”

“Oh yeah? What about?” He asked as he flopped down beside her on the bed, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze.

“Pol.” She admitted softly, and Jorge’s flinch was immediate and noticeable. “It seems like Carlota was never pregnant at all…it was a ploy to break he and I up and get them back together again.” Shaking her head slightly she added softer, “Mission accomplished.” Lightly squeezing Jorge’s hand even though he almost jerked away at the motion, she added, “Moot point anyways since he never loved me…”

“But you still love him.” Jorge said softly, just the barest trace of malice in his tone.

“I’m not completely over him.” Eliza answered just as soft.

“So what, you’re just settling with someone who loves you until you possibly can get back with someone who never did? Is that what you’re telling me?”

Staring at Jorge with wide shocked eyes, Eliza whispered, “I never said anything even remotely like that…”

“So you’re not denying you’re still in love with him.” Jorge retorted as he pulled his hand away and stood from the bed, angrily pacing and limping just slightly from his crash.

“I’m not over him, there’s a difference. Please don’t be like this, J…I’m with who I want to be with, and I’m not settling…”

Giving her a look like he didn’t believe her, Jorge went to the mini bar and grabbed a mini bottle of vodka, taking it an exiting towards the balcony, leaving Eliza alone with her thoughts and her tears at his accusations. Quietly, so quietly he didn’t even immediately realize she’d left, Eliza went down a floor and knocked on Ricky’s door, trying everything in her power to keep her tears at bay.

But as soon as Ricky opened the door it was a lost cause and she threw her arms around his neck, burrowing her face against him and just crying her eyes out.

Carefully backing her into the room, where Alex was sitting on the bed watching the whole scene curiously, Ricky rubbed her back and whispered to her, “Shooosh best girl...whatever it is, it’s going to be ok. Whatever it is, it can be fixed…”

Sniffling loudly, she pulled her face away from Ricky’s neck then gasped in shock at seeing Alex, tears streaking her face but her voice soft and anxious. “I’m interrupting, I’m sorry, I’ll go, I should have called first…”

Eying Alex briefly then returning his attention to Eliza, Ricky gave her a soft kiss, silencing her and relaxing her all in the same breath, then pulling back and shifting her so she was tucked against his neck again. “You’re good, best girl. I promise you that. Now tell us what’s going on, so we can try and fix it for you…”

“J is angry at me; thinks I want Pol instead of him…” Eliza whispered softly, so softly that Alex had to strain to hear her words.

“Why in the world would he think that?” Alex asked, peering at Eliza quizzically. “I mean from everything I’ve seen and heard, you two are wild about each other…”

“Be-because I’m still not over Pol yet. I don’t know if I love him or not, but it doesn’t really matter because he never loved me…” Shaking her head and sniffling more, Eliza continued to whisper, “He said I was settling with him, that he loved me, because I couldn’t be with someone who didn’t love me…”

“Idiot.” Ricky growled under his breath, and when Eliza peered up at him with red-rimmed blue eyes, he clarified, “Your boyfriend, not you. And let me guess, that’s the first time he said he loved you, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

Looking over at Alex and just shaking his head and sighing, Ricky told her, “Stay here for a bit, let me go talk to the sourpuss and see if I can’t straighten things out for you. Alex won’t bite you. He saves that for me.”

And Eliza managed a soft giggle at that, giggling a little louder when Alex snapped his teeth in her direction.

~*~

Long after Jorge had gone over to confront Pol and threaten him to stay away from Eliza, and Ricky had gone to confront Jorge and make him see what an idiot he was being, Eliza finally ventured back from Ricky’s room to what she was unable to think of as her own, and was simply viewing as Jorge’s room.

When she pushed open the door, the lights were dimmed and the room was bathed in candle light; on the floor were dozens upon dozens of flower petals. In awe, but still aching from Jorge’s accusations, Eliza went to search him out, finally finding him sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxers, the start of some ugly bruising on his side already visible. He sat with his head down and palms up and open and after a long moment Eliza moved to kneel between his legs, dropping her head down into one of his open palms, feeling him stroke her cheek almost immediately.

“I’m sorry I was an asshole.” Jorge told her softly, continuing to lightly stroke her cheek as her tears began anew. “And I’m sorry that the first time I told you I loved you was like that. You deserved better then hearing it like that…”

“I don’t know what love is, I don’t think.” Eliza told him softly, making no effort to look up at him, but staying leaned against his hand. “I think I liked the idea of being in love, but I’m not sure I know enough to know what love is.”

“I can understand that.” Jorge told her just as softly, adding after a moment, “It just stings that after all we’ve said and done together, that you still feel for him. But he was your first love…or even if not love, your first real relationship. I keep forgetting you need time to get over that…”

“But I’m with you, J. You’re who I want. You’re who I dream about at night. It’s your body that mine craves the touch of. You are my campeón. And maybe I don’t know enough to know if I love you or not, but I do know you mean everything to me, and you make me feel complete. Maybe that’s love. I don’t know. Just the thought of you upset with me broke my heart…”

“I’m sorry, angel.” He told her, carefully pulling her to her feet and sliding up the bed with her, shifting around until they were laying with her in his arms. “Can I show you how sorry I am, and how much you mean to me?”

Eyes darkening slightly in understand at what was on offer, Eliza tilted her head up to kiss Jorge, bringing both hands up to cradle his cheeks. “Make me yours, J. All I want to think about, to feel, is you.”

Without another word, Jorge went about stripping her down, letting him remove her boxers, and soon enough they were one once more, earlier arguments forgotten, and the only thing that mattered was each other.


	30. Conquests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Monster girl in question is completely made up - if there's one named Amber, it's a complete coincidence!

After Jorge had gone over to yell at Pol, about how Eliza was not available and how he better not have any bright ideas about trying to take her away (and Pol told Jorge to go fuck himself), Pol ended up out on his balcony, unknowingly similar to Jorge earlier, and as he soon discovered, Jorge had never closed his balcony door.

Because Pol could hear every conversation in the room, from when Ricky came in to chastise their friend for his treatment of Eliza – which made Pol burn with rage – to when Eliza herself came back and they talked right up into make-up sex. 

It was like watching a bad porno flick with the screen turned off – he could hear the skin against skin, the low moans and the growls, and eventually the cries that reached the ceiling, but he felt physically stuck to the spot, unable to move, unable to escape. It was for several minutes after they’d ‘ended’ that he’d finally convinced his feet to move back inside, sitting on his bed for a long moment, before he glanced at his cell phone and an idea came to him.

Sending off a text to Alvaro, he asked if Grace knew of any single Monster girls who might like a night with a rider, no strings attached, discretion at a maximum. It took Alvaro several minutes but he finally texted back, “Several, a few who apparently have crushes on you. Why don’t you come down to the restaurant and join us for drinks and we’ll see who shows up and joins us?”

Texting back a quick reply that he was on his way, Pol paused in the bathroom to make sure he looked ok, then continued on and out, down to the restaurant. He was surprised to find not only Grace and Alvaro already there, but another pretty young lady with them. Greeting both Alvaro and Grace, he gave the girl a shy smile, telling her, “Pleasure to meet you…”

“I’m sure it will be…” She replied, wiggling her eyebrows slightly at him and making him blush a bit at her bluntness. “I’m Amber…just in case you want to know what name to be shouting out later…” Pol was glad he hadn’t yet taken a sip of his drink because he was sure he would have choked on it, or nearly sprayed it across the table as Alvaro had.

“I’m Pol…” He started before she interrupted.

“Oh trust me, I know who you are. What say we bounce out of here, get to know each other a little better, yes?” Pol gaped at her for a moment then quickly rose to his feet, nearly stumbling over himself in the process before offering her his hand, blushing a bit when she took it and squeezed, leaning closer to whisper in his ear, “We’re gonna have fun tonight, you and me….”

Shivering, Pol just nodded his head.

~*~

They hadn’t even gotten fully inside the door to his room before Amber and Pol were attacking each other, kissing hard, full of teeth and tongue and just marauding around each other’s mouths. Amber made quick work of Pol’s shirt and dragged long finger nails down his chest, leaving him trembling at the touch.

“All I ask of you…” he whispered breathlessly, “Is that you scream my name as loud and as often as you can. And in return, I’ll do anything you want…”

Smirking at him, and all but dragging him over to his bed, she stripped herself quickly, leaving him watching and admiring the view, before telling him, “Why don’t you put that mouth of yours to good use, so I have good reason to scream?” With Amber sitting on the edge of the bed, Pol want to attack her center, tongue swirling around her clit and also flicking inside of her, determined to drive her wild in gratitude for her assistance. “ **Oh GOD Pol** ,” She cried out loudly, so loudly, he was certain that Jorge and Eliza would be able to hear next door.

Bringing his fingers up to push inside her, her drove her to the edge again and again before slowly and letting her catch her breath, finding her staring at him with dark eyes. “I want to taste you…” He finally told her, even though a small part of him wasn’t certain he actually did, he nonetheless pushed her to the edge once more, this time nipping at her nub until she was screaming out his name so loudly that he was certain the entire floor heard them.

With her legs still shaking he nudged her up the bed until she was laying on his pillow and he reached into the nightstand and grabbed a condom, ripping it open and pulling it on, then pushing inside of her with one hard thrust, triggering another loud scream of his name from her mouth. Pounding into her, he barely gave her a chance to catch her breath, one hand holding his balance up over top of her, the other twisting and tweaking one of her nipples. Harder and faster he pumped into her until she was screaming out his name one more, her clenching muscles pulling his orgasm from him.

Pol laid on top of her for a moment, catching her lips in another fiery kiss before pulling back and pulling out of her, tying the condom and chucking it into the nearby trash, and then just gazing at her for the moment.

“Mmm... that was fun. Maybe we’ll have to do that again some time? No expectations, but you sure know how to make a lady scream…”

Blushing a bit, Pol told her, “I do my best.”

“Well your best should be enough to make just about any other girl in earshot jealous.” Amber responded and for the longest time after she left, Pol wondered if she actually knew his motivation for their conquest.


	31. Resolutions

After a restless night trying to sleep, Eliza woke up the next morning with thoughts of Pol’s loud sexcapades still on her brain. She didn’t want to admit it to Jorge – she didn’t want to upset him further that Pol related things still bothered her – so she waited until he went off to the track and then went and tracked down Ricky.

He wasn’t in her room as she expected – he was instead having breakfast with Aleix while Alex had breakfast with his brother. “Good morning, you two…” she greeted them, giving Ricky a big hug when he rose for it.

“Morning best girl…sleep well?”

“Not without my favorite cuddle buddy,” She quipped, though her eyes told him the tale that there was more there than was otherwise obvious. “But besides needing to acquire a set of strong earplugs, I slept decently.”

“Which side was bugging you? Vale showing off again?” Asked Aleix and she shook her head at him.

“It was the Tech3 side that had quite the …animated… participants. I’m pretty sure they woke up the entire floor, and if they didn’t it wasn’t from lack of effort.”

“My brother??” Aleix asked in shock and Eliza looked away rather than answer. Noting her reaction, Aleix glanced down at his watch and made as though it was time to go. “Ooops, looks like I need to head to the track. Was nice seeing you again, Eliza. Hope I continue to as the season rolls on.”

“Me too, Aleix,” She responded honestly, adding, “Send my regards to Laura, please.”

“Will do,” He said before giving them both a wave and Ricky a slight look that Ricky in turn turned on Eliza.

“Why does it bother me so much that he did what he did last night? I have J, I’m happier than I thought possible and yet hearing that stung almost as much as receiving his letter did…”

Grabbing her hand, Ricky led them from the breakfast area, pausing only to catch Alex’s eye before leading them back up to his room, only then telling her simply, “Because you’re still not over him. Because he hurt you badly. Because let’s face it, for all the shit he pulled with you, if he ever tries to apologize he deserves a slap in the face…or worse. Maybe a punch in the nuts? Either way…I’ve told you before, best girl…there’s no timetable on grief, and you’re still grieving…”

Sighing, Eliza flopped down on one of the beds, staring up at the ceiling and asking Ricky, “Why do you get this better than J does? He gets insecure about me being upset about Pol related stuff…”

“Because that one loves you too, and he wants all of your heart, and not just part of it. And he’s got to remember to be patient enough to give you the time your head and heart need to recover. First love or not, because I know you’re thinking now it wasn’t love, it was still your first relationship. That’s the first thing you had to base any future relationships on, and it wasn’t the greatest of starts.”

Frowning, Eliza nonetheless nodded.

~*~

After her chat with Ricky, Eliza went off to the track to find Jorge, instead finding pit with his helmet on, but rain drizzling down. Tilting her head, she grabbed her tablet off her hip, noting that he was coming up on his lunch break. Shifting to his side, she rested a hand on his shoulder and told him, “Lunch break coming up soon.” When he didn’t answer, and indeed, didn’t even seem to react at all, she shifted in front of him, kneeling and repeating, “Lunch break coming up soon.”

But Jorge kept staring straight ahead at his bike, and before Artur could catch Eliza and explain this was his normal ‘race mode’ behavior, she’d run off, heading towards Jorge’s racing room and finding it empty, she grabbed one of his hoodies and curled up in it, feeling the tears track down her face. She didn’t understand what she’d done wrong, or if she’d pissed him off, or whatever the case was, but it hurt.

Grabbing her cell phone off her hip, she texted Ricky, asking him, “Did you talk to Jorge about what we talked about this morning or something?”

But even Ricky didn’t answer immediately as he and Alex were taking advantage of everyone being at the track to be otherwise occupied.

By the time he responded that he hadn’t, that he never would betray her confidence like that, she’d already fallen asleep around the hoodie.

~*~

When the team finally cleared Jorge to go have lunch, he headed to hospitality first, expecting to find Eliza there waiting for him, but with no sign of her (and a circle of Monster girls flirting with Pol!), Jorge backtracked towards his pit, trying to figure out where she could be. After checking with Aleix to see if she’d gone hung out with Ricky (who he discovered wasn’t actually at the track), Jorge finally went to his own track room and that was where he found Eliza.

The sight broke his heart. Her face, red, with obvious tear tracks, showed that someone or something had upset her again, and he hadn’t been there to comfort her. Kneeling beside the couch she was on and running his hands through her up-tied hair, he whispered to her, “Angel, it’s time to wake up…” and almost immediately she stirred, pressing her head into his hand much like a cat would.

Drawing her eyes open at him, she stared at him in obvious surprise, bring a hand up to wipe at her eyes and whispering to him, “I thought you were upset with me…”

Furrowing his brow at her, Jorge asked in a voice only slightly louder than hers, “Why would you think that? I mean especially after last night…we were good, weren’t we?”

Biting on her lip, Eliza nodded, but whispered to him, “I tried to tell you about your schedule though and you didn’t even acknowledge me. You just sat there and stared straight ahead at your bike…”

Groaning softly, Jorge finally understood the problem. “I’m sorry angel. When I’m in racing mode, the only thing on my mind is the bike, the times, and getting faster times. The only thing that registers to me is conversation about the bike…”

“So you weren’t mad at me?”

“No angel, not at all. In fact, it broke my heart to come in here and see you so upset, and now to realize I was the cause of it…” Biting on his own lip, Jorge tilted his head a bit and asked, “What do you say I find some place around here to take you out to eat again, and we can just spend time with each other.” Pausing for a moment, he added, “And if we’re lucky, we’ll miss any future shows next door.”

Smiling a bit more and moving to unwrap from his hoodie and sit up, Eliza nodded her head. “I like that idea. Do you think we could pick up some ear plugs as well?”

Laughing softly, Jorge nodded his agreement.


	32. Fiona

Testing now in Qatar, with the season inching ever closer, Jorge was not having a good time at all with the Michelin tyres. Despite his best efforts, he’d suffered another high side crash, and had to come back to the box – and his room – to change out his leathers.

In his room waiting, completely unaware of the crash though, was Eliza, studying her tablet, and trying to plan ahead for the next time they’d be in Qatar in a few weeks’ time, when everything would be happening ‘for real’. So distracted was she by her work that she jumped when the door swung open and just stared at Jorge in shock for a moment before her brain kicked in and she finally reacted. “Oh my god, your leathers…what happened?”

“Those damn Michelin tyres happened, is why. There’s no front grip on them at all, that’s the second time I’ve high-sided off my bike.”

Hesitantly approaching him, recognizing he was still somewhat in race mode, Eliza brought her hands up to his face, cradling his cheeks and asking him softly, “Are you ok?”

“Bruised ego and I’ll probably have some cuts and scrapes in the morning from this, but I’ll live. Promise angel.” Jorge leaned into her hands and just closed his eyes for the moment, knowing he needed to change and get back out on his second bike, but just wanting to take advantage of her closeness for a moment.

“Poor sweet campeón…I’ll have to take extra good care of you tonight…” She whispered against his ear, purposefully blowing on his ear so that he’d tremble, which he did, as anticipated.

“Mmm…you can do whatever you want to me, angel…” Jorge told her, eyes darkening a shade before he slowly pulled back and move to strip out of his damaged leathers, feeling her dark eyes on him the entire time he was in his Alpinestars undergear.

“God **damn** you’re hot. How in the world did I ever get so lucky to get someone like **you**??” Eliza questioned, unabashedly staring at him.

“I should be saying the same thing about you,” Jorge retorted as he finally reached for another set of leathers, moving to climb into them as Eliza sighed a bit sadly when her ‘view’ went out of sight. “Don’t worry angel, I’ll put on a strip show just for you later, back in the hotel…you have my word.”

Nodding in his direction, Eliza quietly approached, giving him a soft but lingering kiss before pulling back and telling him, “Go kick ass out there, J. I’ll be here waiting for you.”

Even though he knew she was always there waiting for him, for some reason her words had extra impact on that day, and Jorge left his race room with an extra bounce in his step and a determination to do well.

~*~

By the time Jorge made it back to his room that night, he went looking for Eliza but couldn’t find her immediately. “Angel?” He called out, and after a moment, he heard her calling back.

“In here,” Came her voice from the bathroom, and when he entered, he found the oversized tub filled, even with bubbles. “I thought I’d draw you a bath to make you feel better…” Eliza told him a bit shyly, giving him one of those sweet smiles that always sent his groin on fire.

“You always make me feel better, angel,” Jorge told her, bringing his hand down to cup her cheek and dragging his thumb along it tenderly, smiling to himself when she as usual leaned into the touch. “I promised you a show though, didn’t I?”

Eliza’s eyes lit up and she looked Jorge up and down, a slow smirk curling over her lips. “You did, you did. So let’s see what you’ve got, campeón.”

Laughing softly, he oh so slowly pulled his shirt off over his head, teasing her, “You say that like you’ve never seen this show before…”

Dark eyes just gave him a devilish look, and Eliza told him, “I could see this show a million times and never tire of it.” Blushing, if only slightly, Jorge resumed his strip show, tugging down his jeans and boxers in one fell swoop, and turning a bit to show Eliza the bruising already forming on his hip. “Poor sweetie…” She whispered and moved closer to press a kiss in the middle of the bruise, making Jorge hiss slightly but also tremble at the gesture.

When Jorge was completely undressed, socks and all, Eliza took his hand and led him to the bath, helping him climb in and smiling as he sank down in until only his face was showing. “Mmm, I know I already said it once, but thank you, angel…this is perfection.”

Reaching her hand in to play with the bubbles, Eliza asked him, “Do you want cleaned, or do you just want to sit here and soak while I stare at you like the God that you are?”

Blushing almost crimson at her words, Jorge told her, “Just soak for now. Once I’m good and rested, I’m sure we can find better things to do with our time.”

Eliza grinned at him, teasing, “Like maybe I could climb in there with you and give you a ride?”

Groaning as he looked at the size of the tub, Jorge told her, “I’m not sure we’d both fit, but damn the visual on that is hot. But if you want to ride me angel, let’s wait ‘til we’re back in bed…”

Eliza pouted a bit, but nodded her head, giving Jorge a devious little smile that made his toes curl in anticipation.

~*~

“So. Fiona. Fi…” and he kissed her. “…on….” And kissed her again. “aaaaaaaaah.” The final kiss was marked by her cupping Pol through his shorts and he pressed into her hand, dark eyes looking over the slight woman. “You’re a cheeky one…”

“That wasn’t a complaint.” Fiona correctly assumed and Pol’s eyes darkened even more, if possible. “So tell me how you want me, and how loud I’m to be and I’m at your service…”

“Very loud.” Pol growled as he nipped at her lower lips, breaking skin and making their kiss fierier, more passionate if possible. His hand slid down her smooth, toned skin and into the tiny little shorts that Monster insisted they wear, seeking and finding wetness and smirking when she squealed out his name. “Louder, sugar. If you like me half as much as I’ve heard, then I know you can go louder.” Fiona’s response was to scratch her sharp nails down Pol’s back, lacing her nails into skin and leaving red marks behind as he growled at her, picking her up by her hips and carrying her over to his bed, throwing her down on it with no preamble. “Let’s see how you taste.”

Ripping the tiny shorts off, Pol dug in, mouth attacking her most private parts while she screamed out his name…

…meanwhile, next door…

Getting ready to slide back on Jorge and go for a ride, Eliza made a disappointed groaning noise at the sounds coming from Pol’s room. Chuckling softly at her, Jorge reached into the nightstand and grabbed a set of earplugs, murmuring at her, “Roll them, then lick them, then stick them in…”

Giving him a filthy look as she nonetheless popped the earplugs in and found the sound much more mute in general, she said/mouthed to him, “I could do that to you too…” And sliding backwards further, Eliza rolled her hips over Jorge’s, leaving him calling out to the ceiling. Licking her hand, she reached it back to drag her fingertips over his balls, as he quacked, already sensitive from all of her talk, promises, and teasing while he was in the tip. “Now…stick it in…” She said. “I can handle that.” And capturing his cock, Eliza stared down at Jorge with eyes blue like sapphires.

The competition was definitely on, and Jorge was positive he had the winning ride.


	33. Everything

It had been a relatively good race early on from what Eliza could see. She’d been hiding in the back of the team’s pit box, away from view from cameras, away from anyone but team onlookers. She paced around the area mostly, and started pacing in earnest when Jorge’s times suddenly seemed to slow and he started going backwards on the track. He ultimately finished 4th, not the best of starts to a season, but just outside the rostrum so it could have been worse.

As she prepared to pack up her things so that she could head straight back to the hotel to finish packing their things before their morning flight, she was surprised to see Jorge coming straight to her, an expression she couldn’t quite put her finger on, on his face. But he came and immediately leaned his head against her shoulder, cozying up almost before he told her softly, “I couldn’t see.”

“WHAT!” She almost yelled, and the look Jorge gaze her in response made her realize that would have been a bad idea. “What happened?” She asked at a much more normal volume.

“A piece of foam inside my helmet broke away and came down and was covering my vision. I couldn’t see sideways and barely straight-ahead out of that eye…”

“Oh my god, you could have been killed!” Eliza wrapped her arms tightly around her rider, shivering at the thought of him not being able to see something – or someone – on the track and sending himself ass over teakettle off into injury.

“Shhh, angel. I’m alright. Wounded pride again, because I should be in parc ferme right now, but I’ll get over it. Someone at my helmet company has a helluva lot of explaining to do though!”

“That’s for damn sure.” She growled, still holding him close, though starting to feel him pull away, to shift back into race mode to deal with his remaining obligations.

Leaning in to give her a tender kiss, Jorge whispered against her lips, “I’ve got to go. Media will have questions and I need to debrief with the team. But I’ll see you at the hotel?”

“I’ll be there waiting…” Eliza told him as she reached out and stroked his cheek as he walked away, earning her a smile that he turned to give before he disappeared again.

~*~

Disappointed and a bit ego-sore after his last lap incident, but pleased that the rookie Alex had managed to get his way into the points, Ricky headed off to Marc’s room, which the Repsol rider had graciously turned over to his brother so that the lovers could have some privacy. His respect for Marc grew daily, even if he continued to desire to never her the pair of brothers laughing together again!

Soon enough Alex showed up and the first thing Ricky did once they were safely within the room was to wrap his arms around him and just hold him close, Alex automatically adjusting his footing so that they were on more even standing. “Congratulations on points, babe. Not bad for a rookie.”

“Rinsy finished in 4th place,” Alex grumbled, his head moving to drop on Ricky’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about your deal, that was shit.”

“Rinsy can finish in 4th place all day,” Ricky reminded him. “He’ll still never be the Moto3 Champion.”

“True just… arrrrgh. So frustrated.”

“I can tell,” Ricky whispered, palming him through his jeans as Alex’s groans of frustration turned to groans of desire. “What say I do something about your…frustrations…”

“Only if I can make your situation up to you as well.” Ricky nodded a bit, then moved to undo and unzip Alex’s jeans, tugging both jeans and boxers to the floor as Alex stepped out of them, then moving to settle between long legs.

Finding that spot with his tongue that immediately turned Alex to a pile of jelly, Ricky wasn’t all that surprised when the younger moved away from leaning against the door and shifted over to the bed, laying down against the edge with his legs spread as wide as they’d go. Tracing his fingertips over Alex’s balls, he leaned in to suck Alex into his mouth, hands stroking him hard through the oral action.

Whimpering but obviously trying not to, Alex managed one thrust up into Ricky’s mouth before Ricky’s hands were keep Alex’s hips steady, both holding him down and dragging thumbs in circles over sensitive skin. They kept up like this, Ricky’s ministrations on and around Alex’s cock until Alex was whimpering his warning and only then did Ricky suddenly pull back, letting the splash of cum hit him in the face and neck, and Alex groaning louder at the sight.

“You,” and he kissed him, having pulled him up the bed, “are trying to kill me.” And he emphasized that point by licking some of his own cum off Ricky’s neck, them both shivering in the process.

“And to think there was a time I was too skittish to let you kiss me…” Ricky chuckled as he was the one who leaned in for a hungry kiss with Alex. If he had his way at all, there’d be no inhibitions left by the time the night was done.

~*~

“And your name is?” Pol asked the diva in his doorway as she just shook her head, took a step inside his room and began to strip as Pol’s eyes nearly exploded out of his head.

“Doesn’t really matter, does it? We girls all know the routine by now. You rock our worlds with that filthy mouth of yours, making us scream your name, then you fuck us through the beds, again making us scream your name. You scream, but never any names….so why start now?”

Staring at the girl a bit incredulously at her bluntness, Pol nonetheless admired her body, the belly button ring a new toy for him to play with to drive this one wild, and he immediately leaned down to tongue it, lightly tugging on it with the tip of his tongue as she shuddered. But after a moment she pulled him up and into a searing hot kiss, lots of mouth and tongue bitten and lots of marauding tongue.

Rubbing her naked body against his, she groaned, and he took the opportunity to reach between her legs, not surprised by the pooling wetness he found waiting for him. Pushing two fingers into her with no preamble, he questions, “Bedroom, yes?” And she could only groan out a response.

Soon enough he had her dangling over the edge of the bed, his mouth buried between her legs as she screamed and shouted his name, fingering her to the edge over and over again until finally taking some sympathy on her and letting her have her release, his tongue staying steady where it was so he could lap her up and taste her.

He was growing to enjoy nights like this. Plenty of hot sex and no obligations afterwards.

~*~

Eliza had put her earplugs in almost immediately upon entering hers and Jorge’s suite, knowing it would only be a matter of time before Pol pulled a girl and had the next room over rocking. She really couldn’t wait until they were on the European aspect of the season, when they’d be staying in Jorge’s soundproof motorcoach and less likely to hear Pol’s shenanigans.

But in the meanwhile, she started packing up anything they wouldn’t need for that night or the next morning, even going so far as to tuck her art supplies in her suitcase, figuring there’d be little to no time to draw between now and takeoff.

Eventually, Jorge returned, seemingly about the time of the latest arrival of Pol’s Pussy Patrol, and Eliza just offered him a set of earplugs before wrapping her arms around tightly, whispering against his ear, “I’m so glad you’re safe after that incident with the foam. That could have been so much worse…”

“I know, I could have finished much further down in the points,” Jorge responded as he quickly got his earplugs into place then made a gesture to Eliza towards the bedroom, which she nodded at.

“I think I love you,” She spoke/mouthed to him, and he almost took his earplugs out again to be sure what he heard.

The corners of his eyes moistening up at her words, he asked back, “What brought this on?”

“Thinking about losing you out there, I couldn’t deal with the thought. I need you like I need to breath. You’re my everything…”

This time, Jorge’s eyes did leak and he picked her up and sat Eliza on the bed before leaning over her, kissing her breathless, all their touches feeling more magnified with their hearing so profoundly blocked. “You know I love you too. Tu eres mi corazón, mi alma, mi todo….”

Sliding her shirt up and running his fingers over her bra, Jorge showed off his prowess but undoing her bra in one fell swoop, letting it fall to the ground in front of her as he blatantly admired the view. Returning his smile with one of her own, Eliza removed Jorge of his shirt, tracing her fingertips over the chain he always kept hidden away.

Nudging him back towards the bed, Jorge easily fell onto it but grabbed Eliza by the hips so that she fell on top of him, very lightly rolling his hips at her so she’d know how much she was desired. Groaning softly, she leaned down to kiss him, feeling his arms settle around her hips and just hold her in place for the longest time.

She didn’t need the loud and obnoxious sex like was coming from next door. She had Jorge, and Jorge was everything.


	34. Pain...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry.

Long after the race in Circuit of the Americas had ended, with another 4th for Jorge, the battle was still just beginning in the motorcoach that Monster had brought for Jorge and his team. Eliza was of the mindset that socializing could wait for another time, another race, that getting Jorge’s health back was more important. But the stubborn one continued to socialize with the friends and dignitaries brought his way, despite his bronchitis.

“I’m on antibiotics.” He muttered at her in the back bedroom as he changed into jeans and a comfortable t-shirt.

“You’re still running a fever!” Eliza retorted. “You’re still coughing, and I can see in your eyes how exhausted you are. Surely these ‘friends’ of yours will understand your need to rest…”

“I just rode a motorcycle with this bronchitis and I’ve lived to tell the tale. I think talking with my friends won’t kill me.”

“Fine, when you pass out in mid-conversation, don’t be looking for my arms to crawl into.” And pushing past him into the main area of the motorcoach, Eliza growled softly to the gathered crowd, “you’ll have to pardon me.” And promptly exited the coach.

Coming out into the coach proper a few minutes later, it took Jorge several minutes before he noticed she was gone, asking his friends and family, “Where is Eliza?”

Jonathan, his friend and financial advisor (and Ricky’s former lover) just shrugged his shoulders a bit and told Jorge, “She said we’d have to pardon her and she exited.”

Closing his eyes and dropping down into one of the captain’s chairs, feeling the exhaustion more knowing that he’d hurt her, his eyes tracked to Artur, and he asked simply, “Can you…?”

Nodding, his communications manager went off wandering, to see if he could find the agitated girlfriend and bring her back home again. But instead of him finding her, she’d found a pack of Hayden sisters, who she was chattering away with – especially once they realized she didn’t speak Spanish.

“I would have been sure Lorenzo’s girl woulda spoke Spanish!” said the older one, Jenny she said was her name. “I’m surprised the Spanish media hasn’t had a cow about that yet…”

Giving her a slight smile, Eliza explained, “No one outside of his friends and maybe his family know that we’re together. I hide during the races. I wouldn’t go to parc ferme even if he made it there, I don’t think…”

“Why not?”

“For the reasons you listed earlier, I’d presume.” And Eliza shrugged, dipping further into the garage bay the Hayden’s occupied to check out their merchandise. “Hayden, Hayden, Hayden…ahhh...that’s why your name is familiar! You’re 69’s sisters!”

Kath, the younger one, stifled a giggle at that, while Jenny grinned and said, “You’ve just made us sound like a bad porn flick.”

Eliza went almost crimson at that and immediately was all, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, that wasn’t my intent…”

Both Hayden girls giggled for a moment before tilting their head to watch the other American girl, noting the sadness in her eyes, the way she kind of just flipped through the merchandise without even really noticing what she was seeing. “Hey, are you sure you’re ok?”

“Just fine.” Eliza parroted back in a perfect imitation of Jorge earlier. “Sorry for botherin’ y’all. I’ll be on my way now.”

And if the Hayden sisters though about chasing her down and helping solve her woes, they thought better of it when they saw Jorge’s media man chasing after her instead.

~*~

Grabbing her arm just before she hailed a taxi, Artur spun Eliza around to find a face full of angry tears greeting him and a low voice questioning, “What do you want?”

“The boss asked that I catch you,” the communications manager explained, and almost immediately Eliza rolled her eyes.

“He knows damn fucking well he’s too sick to, so he sent you to do it instead. But he won’t listen to me and send some of his friends ‘home’ for another day so he can get some rest. Better to be up half the night coughing again, am I right?”

Sighing, conceding some of her point, but still firmly in his boss’s corner on this one, Artur told her, “You are 22, not even 23 yet. Yet you position that you know better than an almost 28-year-old man. Don’t you think he knows his body, knows what he is and isn’t capable of?” 

“In other words, lets ignore his imaginary girlfriend, the one who would be taking care of him, and show the world he’s still the Superman of a few years back, right?”

“Imaginary girlfriend…what is that supposed to mean?”

Pulling her arm away from him finally and turning away not to face him, Eliza asked in soft voice, “Just how many people, including the ones in there, know I am his girlfriend. Do his parents even? No. Because if Spain finds out he dares not have a Spanish girlfriend, he’ll be destroyed in the press. Easier to hide me, right?”

“He is sick right now; you’re asking him to have this kind of conversation while he’s sick?”

“Oh **NOW** that he’s sick is consequential, and only he can wield it around as a shield or a weapon. Nice. I see how that works.” Shaking her head again, Eliza raised her arm and simultaneously whistled for a taxi, starting to jump in the first one that showed up before sticking her head out and staring Artur down with burning eyes. “You sleep with him then, you worry about him all night long, and then be happy when no one knows who you are.”

Slamming the door shut behind her, Eliza directed the taxi driver off to the hotel where she and Jorge still had a room – a room that Ricky and Alex were sharing.

~*~

Taking the steps rather than the elevator slowly up to the 6th floor, Eliza’s black Lorenzo t-shirt was saturated with sweat by the time she reached the right floor. And though she had a key card and could quite ostensibly just barge right in, she couldn’t do that to Ricky and Alex … or Bambi as she was beginning to think of him due to his big doe eyes. And so walking to that door, she knocked on it a few times waiting to see if either would respond before just sighing and shaking her head, sliding down outside the door.

It wasn’t for several minutes that the door did open, almost knocking Eliza into the room backwards and giving her a clear view up Ricky’s towel as he tried to tighten it and help her to her feet all at the same time. Having received a text from his ex, he knew something was up, but he was still surprised to see Eliza at his door. “What’s wrong best girl?”

“I…shouldn’t be here. You two need your time together. Can you at least tell me what room Aleix and Laura are in? Maybe I won’t be bothering them…” Pol chose at that moment to be howling at the sky, and walking over to the nearest wall separating the two rooms, Eliza slammed her fist on the wall repeatedly before all but screaming at him, “Polyccio! Knock that shit off for Christ’s sake!”

As she turned around Ricky had managed to throw his boxers on but there was still no sign of his doe-eyed lover and Eliza just shook her head a bit. “You can stay here, best girl…it’ll be ok….”

“No, I can’t. Not if Bambi can’t even come out of hiding in the bathroom where I probably interrupted shower or more time. Just…can you text Aleix and see if I can stay with him and Laura? Please?”

Sighing, Ricky went to his phone, tossed off a text to Aleix, and received one back almost as quick that they would be happy to have her as company. Giving Eliza a kiss on the forehead, he sent her on his way, debating answering Jonathan or even texting Jorge himself, but deciding it not worth the effort.

A few minutes later, Eliza ended up at the door to Aleix’s room, with Laura greeting her with a huge hug and tugging her in, the younger woman breaking down on the older’s shoulder almost immediately. While they were doing that, Aleix quietly took a picture with his phone and fired it off in a text to his sometimes friend but agency partner.

“I thought you were sick? How’d you manage to pull this one off, idiot? Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her…”


	35. ...and Consequences

Between Artur coming back and telling him his story, and then Aleix texting the picture of his angel in tears, Jorge knew he had to do something. Maybe he was stronger than she thought he was, maybe he wasn’t … had it really been worth getting in a fight about?

Asking Jonathan to serve as his wingman and driver, Jorge asked most of the crowd – except his father – to take off, that he’d catch up with them tomorrow before they flew off to Argentina for the next race. And so with Jonathan driving, Jorge was able to relax in the back seat, coughing occasionally, as Jonathan looked up in the rear view mirror at him when he did so. “Quiet, she already gave me hell about that, it’s why we fought, it’s why she left me…”

“She didn’t leave _you_ , bud. She just left. She was obviously too upset to deal with things here so she split.”

“It feels like she left **me**.” Jorge replied just as soft before silencing himself with another coughing fit.

Just shaking his head, Jonathan made the rest of the drive to the hotel in silence, telling Jorge, “I’ll park it in the garage, text me if you need me to pull up and around for you two…”

“You’re more optimistic than I am.”

“No, I’ve just seen how much that girl loves you. She’s not ready to let you go yet.”

Climbing out of the SUV, Jorge headed straight to Aleix and Laura’s room, finding the couple on the bed watching TV – but no sign of Eliza. “Where is she??” Jorge asked in a panicked voice and it was Laura’s calm, soothing tones that greeted him.

“Relax. She’s on the balcony with a Vodka and Coke. And yes, that’s your shirt on the bed, and it’s soaked, so yes, she’s wearing one of my husbands. Try not to let that sting too much, yes?”

Jorge sighed half in fear and half in relief and asked Laura softly, “Is it safe for me to go out there?”

“If you can realize that she was only trying to look out for you because she loves you, then yes. If you’ve come here to argue with her more, then I’d tell you to come back another day.”

Nodding his head slightly, Jorge approached the back slider, carefully pushing it aside to find Eliza curled up in a chair, one of Aleix’s fan club shirts hanging over her body almost like a sleepshirt, and her eyes gazing off in the distance and not even paying him any mind. Quietly, he slid into the seat beside her, and then just as quietly grabbed for her hand, not the least bit surprised when she jumped a good 3 feet out of her seat before settling down. “You.” She said as she turned red eyes on him, making his heart ache once more.

“Me.” Jorge confirmed, just holding her gaze for the longest time before she looked away again, and it was at that point he told her softly, “Everyone who isn’t staying in the couch has been asked to leave, with the exception of my father. He’s back there waiting for us to return.”

“What’s he waiting for?” She asked with a bit of attitude, a bit of snark in her tone.

“To be properly introduced to my girlfriend, the woman I love.” Jorge told her softly, smiling a bit when her eyes snapped to his. “Mama and Laura will hafta wait ‘til Jerez – they won’t show up before then. But...Papa might rub it in to Mama that he has already met you, so we may have to arrange a trip to Mallorca before the races.”

“Why am I only meeting them now? Why does the world still not know I’m yours?”

Jorge cringed a bit in the face of her alcohol induced honesty, but tried to answer in kind, telling her, “I don’t know why I haven’t taken the opportunity sooner. Maybe I’ve been in too much of a haze of just being all about and with you that it didn’t occur to me to open that up to the world. Maybe it didn’t occur to me you’d want the world to know about us, considering how wicked the press can sometimes be. But if you’d like me to scream from the rooftops that I’m yours and your mine, I would do that for you…”

“I don’t know what I want.” She told him. “Except to be yours again. Can I be yours again?”

“You were never not mine, angel, this I promise you. And if you want to slowly expand the group of people who know about us to outside the paddock, I’m good with that.”

Exhaling softly, she moved closer to him, starting to kiss him before shifting to kiss his forehead, making a soft tsk noise. “You’re still burning up. We need to get you home, get more antibiotics in you…”

Just nodding his agreement, Jorge asked hopefully, “And go to bed with my angel in my arms?”

This time the smile that curled on Eliza’s face was the first sincere one he’d seen since they’d been outside. “Yes, you can sleep with me in your arms.”

“Good.” And as Eliza was led inside by Jorge and Aleix and Laura looked up from cuddling on the other bed, she asked, “So why did no one here tell me Ricky is hung like moose? Or am I the only one who knew that?”

Immediately bursting into a coughing fit that had his face so red that Aleix went to grab him a bottle of water, Jorge managed to sputter between coughs. “When did you see that of Ricky?”

“When I went over there earlier looking for a place to stay. But he and Bambi were showering together so that didn’t work out so well. And **your** little brother needs to get over this pounding presumably women through the walls shit. I’m banged on the wall and told him to knock it off!”

“Oh Angel, what am I going to do with you?” Jorge hooked an arm around her waist to only slightly her confusion and he gave Aleix and Laura a wave.

“Oh, we’re leaving now? Bye Laura, bye Aleix. Thank you for the shirt, I guess I’m an Espargarin now!”

It was a good thing for them both that Jorge managed to keep his growl under his breath.


	36. Feeling at Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a scene of Spanish here that I would have done out in Spanish but it would have taken too long. So hopefully its clear that the conversation in question IS in Spanish though dialogue in this story otherwise is in English.

A little over 4 days since they had all arrived back in Lugano from Argentina, and things were finally starting to settle down again. At least, as far as Jorge and Eliza were concerned, they were. They slept until they felt like it, sometimes engaging in some ‘good morning’ activities, went to ate whatever breakfast Marc had prepared, and then Jorge worked his ass off until he went to bed at 10:30 PM.

So when Jorge and Eliza wandered down the stairs at 6:30 am, they weren’t expecting Marc to be waiting for them with arms crossed telling Jorge in Spanish, “This is not working.”

Stopping in his tracks to stare at his trainer, the one that he’d quite frankly stolen from Ricky, he answered in return Spanish, “What is not working?”

“This, all of this, you getting up when you feel like it, eating when you feel like it, coming down to work out whenever. This is not working. And I blame your girlfriend.”

Unfortunately for Marc, Jorge and Eliza’s Spanish lessons were going very well and while she may not have been fluent in the language, she very much understood the conversation, and her inclusion into it, though she kept her eyes and face blank and just quietly held on to Jorge’s hand, the one that he wasn’t currently making into a fist.

“Where do you get off blaming my girlfriend for any of this??” The angry Jorge questioned, and the only thing Eliza did was squeeze his hand, trying for the moment to calm him down.

“It is easy to see, look at your results. You have not finished on the rostrum since she came into the picture.”

Jorge just stared at him like he had 3 heads. “I wasn’t fit at 2 races because of the bronchitis and the lingering effects of it. And the first race of the season a piece of foam fell into my eyes. Tell me how this is her fault?!”

“If you were better prepared, you would not have gotten sick, or have been as sick for as long.” Marc stated and finally, Eliza jumped in, her voice soft and not so confident in the second language, periodically looking to Jorge for reassurances.

“Did you ever consider that may you are working Jorge too hard? His agreement with you calls for 8 hours of working out. You routinely exceed that. How can he stay healthy if his body is overworked and vulnerable to diseases? You notice I’m not getting sick and I have sometimes joined you guys. By your logic, I should have been the one sick, not Jorge…”

Marc just stared at her for the longest time, mouth agape while Jorge smirked a bit beside her, still tightly gripping her hand. “You speak Spanish now…”

“I do. Which means I understand all the mutterings you make about me when you think I’m not paying attention. And you know what else? **He** hears them too. You’re lucky you still have a job, and no, I’m not threatening you. In fact, I have a compromise. We’ll do a better job of getting up for 6:15 in the morning, and being down here ready for you. But you **must** stick to you 8 hour work out schedule, which means breaks around lunch time and in the evening.”

Still agape, but finally starting to pick up his mouth, Marc uttered a simple, “OK.”

Nodding, and smiling, Eliza tugged Jorge into the kitchen so that they could eat their breakfast, chattering away at each other in English, while Marc stared at their retreating forms.

~*~

“I don’t know why you don’t just…move in with us.” Laura told Pol one morning after having to drag his ass out of bed for breakfast and force him to get his day started. “You’re obviously miserable alone here, and at least your brother and I can get you going in the morning so you two can work out together…”

“I’ve thought about moving.” Pol admitted to her, glancing around the house he barely had the desire to upkeep on his own – the only reason it was clean was the agency that Eliza used to work at sent someone over once a week. And when Laura just stared at him, Pol nodded a bit and told her, “Yeah, I meant it. I’ve thought about moving. I mean being next door to you two is amazing, but there’s so many memories here that I’d like to get rid of…”

“At least you haven’t been pulling random girls in here, too. Thank you for listening to me on that, at least…”

Hanging his head a little bit, Pol glanced at Laura out of the corner of his eye and told her, “She heard me getting it on with one of the Red Bull girls at Texas. Yelled at me through the walls for it, too…”

“I’m aware of that, hermanito. She came to our room after she left that one. She told us she yelled at you for being so loud.”

Shaking his head while he walked around in circles, Pol told Laura. “I still see her everywhere here. Especially in the bedroom, especially when this one…” And Pol stopped to pet up Eina to the wolf pup’s pleasure, “Steals all the covers.” Turning to look at Laura he told her, “It’s sad, the only memories I have here of Carlota are bad. Fights. Arguments. Threats and empty promises…but it’s enough that I want rid of them.”

“I can understand that. And I can help you look for a new place if you’d like, somewhere with a slightly bigger backyard for the wolf to run around in…”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, girl?” And off Eina’s bark, they both laughed a bit, for the moment, the unpleasant discussions forgotten.

~*~

On a walk after Jorge got away for his lunchtime break for Marc, Eliza kept close to Jorge’s side, even going so far to lean her head on his shoulder. “Do you think maybe we could get a dog at some point?” She asked, and almost immediately he shook his head no.

“The problem with a dog isn’t the dog itself,” Jorge explained, “It’s the taking care of the dog when we’re away around the world. Then who takes care of the dog? Friends? Relatives? That’s not really fair to them or the animal…”

“Ok.” Eliza replied, disappointment clear in her voice. “What about a cat? They don’t require as much maintenance, and are far more self-sufficient. Would just need a maid or someone to clean the box and put down food when you’re away for a week or two…”

“That still leaves the problem of the second set of flyaways, especially since I’m intending you’d be there with me, even though most wives and girlfriends stay behind for those…” Hanging her head a bit, Eliza nodded again and Jorge just squeezed her hand, telling her, “I’m not trying to crush your dreams, Angel...I’m just trying to think beyond what would be good for us, and into what’s good for an animal…”

“I understand, I do. I just…get lonely sometimes when you two are working out and I don’t feel like sketching or bothering you guys to join you. I don’t know anyone else here, so I thought maybe a pet could solve that problem…”

“We’d need to find other ex-pats who spoke either English or Spanish in order to make new friends here. Not impossible, just…I haven’t yet in the time I’m here.”

“Yeah, but how often do you go out when you’re not with me?”

“True, true…” Jorge answered as he stopped to turn and give Eliza a kiss. “Let’s think about a dog or a cat, ok? Maybe we’ll ask Rossi how he does it, see if we can’t get some ideas that’ll make it agreeable to us and an animal.”

Face lighting up into a brilliant smile, Eliza just wrapped up Jorge into a big hug and gave him another kiss.


	37. Masterclass

Much later on, Eliza would learn the term for the show that Jorge had put on at Jerez would be a ‘Masterclass’. But in the short term, she was getting half dragged half hand held but Jorge’s father-figure mechanic Juanito down to parc ferme, to celebrate with the rest of the team. To say she was nervous how Jorge would react to seeing her was an understatement. They’d decided for the time being to share within the paddock and the media, but ask that they try and keep her off of TV.

And so she was one of many of those wordlessly screaming at her crazy boyfriend when he debated another swim – until he called it off to all of their relief. Soon enough he too was in parc ferme and jumping into the pile of his team and friends, and his hand stealthily searching out hers while he was in the pile. She grabbed it and gave it a squeeze, then let go, then met his dark eyes for a moment after he was back situated on his feet.

She wanted to hug him tight, tell him how proud she was of him, but it was too risky, too much chance of TV cameras catching it, and so she settled for watching him strut around like a peacock from the safety of beside his Mama.

Soon enough they were doing the anthems and cava spraying – she had no idea how he managed to get it far enough to get **them** wet. And then she was following his Mama and sister, Laura back to his motorcoach to wait for him to arrive, knowing that he had to do press conferences, media interviews, plus still debrief with his team. It was going to be awhile.

And so there was chattering – with Laura occasionally having to translate words like grandchildren, much to Eliza’s crimson state – but mostly it was a fun, if not overly relaxed group until the campeón returned to his people. She followed him when we went to the back of his motorcoach, waiting until he had his pants down to massage through the boxer-briefs he raced in, the tone she received back one of warning, “Eliiiiiiiiiiiiza.”

Smiling at him with impish blue eyes, she told him, “Don’t worry, campeón, I wouldn’t dare get you off with your Mama in the front room.”

“Evil. You’re just evil. C’mon now, you’re going to have to walk in front of me and sit on my lap so the whole world doesn’t know I’m ready to throw you on this bed and have my way with you.”

Turning back to nip and his ear, Eliza simply whispered into it, “Later.”

~*~

Knowing how he felt after a race and knowing his brother felt the same way, Pol gave Aleix and Laura a good half hour before he headed over to their motorcoach. By that time, they were back sitting in the kitchen bar area, hair still wet from recent showers, but both obviously sated.

“No random Monster girls today, Polyccio?” Laura asked.

Pol shook his head and mumbled, “No point. Short term fulfillment for me, but no one else is hearing me getting any.”

“You’ve really got to get her out of your head,” Aleix told him and Pol just glared at him. “What? It’s true. She’s with Lorenzo. For the long term, maybe even forever. We don’t know. But you surely can’t assume she’ll ever be available again, and if she was, that she’d want **YOU**. I mean think about what you did to her, how much you must have broken her heart…”

“I was stupid, yes, but I thought I was doing the right thing. Had she really been pregnant by me it would have been the right thing for me to be with her…”

“Why, so a baby could see two parents who more often than not hate each other’s guts? That’s logical, Polyccio…and super healthy for a kid, too.”

Sighing, Pol just shook his head and then put it in his hands, mumbling, “Doesn’t really matter, does it? I’m never getting her back again. I ruined all chance of that….”

~*~

Several hours after the race ended, everyone who wasn’t staying in the coach had left, finally leaving Eliza and Jorge to each other’s company. Given the teasing she’d done to him throughout the afternoon and evening, he all but dragged her back to the bedroom, pinning her against the door as soon as they were inside of it.

“You. Are. Evil.” He said between kisses, rubbing his body against hers and attacking her lips with his own.

“Who, me?” She questioned coyly, batting her eyelashes at him as he made a low growly noise in his throat.

It wasn’t but a moment longer that he was grabbing her by the hips and carrying her off to the bed, depositing her on it and climbing on top of her, still rubbing his body against hers all the while. “You’re a damn tease.” Jorge told her, as she reached down to squeeze him through his pants, earning her another low, throaty groan. “Joder, you will be the death of me.”

Giving him a devilish little smile, Eliza rolled them over, kissing him hard and nipping at his lower lip while her hands slide down his body, finger tips ghosting over his abdomen. Pulling her mouth away from his, a line of saliva connecting their lips, Eliza slid down Jorge’s body, undoing his jeans and tugging them out of the way, hand immediately going for his boxer briefs to trace the outline of his hardness.

“Oh god, don’t tease…” Jorge whispered at her as he thrust up into her hand, and she just smiled at him, tugging the boxer briefs down enough that she could free him from his entrapment. Leaning down she started to lick and suck on him, not bothering to pin his hips down and letting him thrust up into her mouth, hearing him groan and growl as she did so.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” He chanted over and over again as she teased him right to the edge and then stopped, looking up his body at him with darkened eyes. “You’re killing me, angel….”

Smirking a bit at him, Eliza put on a strip show for him, shimmying out of her shirt and pants and laying on top of him with just her underwear on. Jorge grabbed her by the hips and rocked against her, groaning loudly as he did so. “Fuck me, campeón.” She growled against his ear. “I want to be fucked by a winner.”

It took him very little time or effort to strip her out of her underwear and in an equal amount of time he was thrusting up inside of her, flipping them back over again so he could pound her into the bed. “Fuck angel, you’re so tight…” Jorge growled at her, just slamming into her over and over again as her muscles tightened around him to pull him deeper.

Finally losing control, he cried out her name, as she quickly followed, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tightly to her, pulling him into a kiss and whispering against his lips, “My campeón. I adore you so…”

“Love you too, angel….and I always will.”


	38. Scars

“J? What is arm pump surgery all about? Have you had it before?”

Looking over at his love curiously, Jorge answered, “Arm pump is an issue common in professional motorcycle riders. It’s the tendon surrounding the muscles on our arms. If it gets overworked, then they slice it open to get more blood flowing to our hands and wrists again, which as you know are some of our most important parts on our bikes. But to answer the second half of your question, yes, I’ve had arm pump, just not in several years. I think my riding style is conducive to not triggering it as much as it does in some others, like poor Dani.”

“Oh. Is it painful?”

Pulling her in close and kissing her forehead, he asked, “The surgery or the need for it? It’s more uncomfortable then painful. Having weakness in your hands and wrists is disconcerting...why? Who besides Dani do you know that needed it?”

“Laura texted me that both big baby brothers came through their surgeries fine so I went researching to see what had happened to both. Aleix’s thumb surgery I could figure out, but not Pol’s arm pump. And they both intend to race at Mugello?”

“Yeah, it’s a very rare thing that a rider wouldn’t be cleared after a surgery of any sort, really. Dani is a special case because his was so severe. That was like a last ditch effort for his career…”

“Which is why your crazy ass raced the day after breaking your collarbone, yes?” And to emphasize the point, Eliza drew her fingertips over the scar in question, feeling Jorge shiver a bit as she did so.

“Hey, I got cleared to do so. Painkillers lasted long enough for me to get up to 5th and then it was just holding onto the bike and trying to ignore the pain.”

“Crazy ass.” She repeated at him and he silenced her with a kiss, leading her to laugh softly against his lips. “Show me where else you have scars, campeón.”

“I’ve got quite a few,” He told her. Showing her the shortened finger on his left hand, Jorge said to her, “I severed the tip off this finger. They had to do reconstructive surgery … I was seriously afraid my career was going to be over if I couldn’t use those fingers properly.”

Leaning over, Eliza first kissed the finger than sucked it into her mouth, tongue swirling around it as Jorge’s eyes darkened. Telling him when she finally released the finger, “I’m glad it didn’t end your career, campeón.”

“Me too, angel…me too.” Just staring at her for a long moment, he told her, “You know about the collarbone – there were two surgeries there, within a few weeks of each other. My ankles and feet aren’t exactly in the best of shape thanks to several high sides my rookie year in MotoGP…”

“I’ve seen the videos of those…I know you’re a fan of Michael Jordon, but you didn’t need to try and get as much air as him.”

“Hahaha.” Jorge answered, flipping her off as she grinned at him and reached down to gently rub his feet, grinning a bit more when he fidgeted a little bit at some ticklish spots. “Evil woman.”

“Your evil woman.” Eliza replied as she shifted up to cuddle closer to Jorge, just running her fingers lightly over his skin.

“I wouldn’t have you any other way.” He murmured as he leaned in to kiss her, nipping at her lower lip and swirling his tongue around her mouth, his hands starting to mimic hers and trace over her body, finding the little scars and marks on her and memorizing them for a later date to ask about.

Slowly, intimately, they kept touching each other’s bodies until Jorge’s hands were groping her breasts and Eliza’s hands were slowly running along his cock. Bucking lightly into her hand, Jorge’s eyes darkened once more, kissing her gently but deeply, a kiss with promise of things to come.

It didn’t take long before both were naked and the make out session continued, lots of little touches over every available inch of skin, and Jorge eventually just slowly sliding inside of her, making two into one once more. They barely even moved against each other, just kept touching each other, enjoying getting to know the others body once more.

“I love you.” She whispered, then gasped after one particularly deep thrust and Jorge just smiled at her, nipping her lower lip again.

“Love you too, my angel. You will always be my angel. Always.”

~*~

Cuddled up close, laying forehead to forehead, chest to chest, feet to feet, Ricky and Alex were spending what precious little time they had left in the evening just being close. Neither had particularly good results at LeMans, and as a result, racing was the last thing on either of their minds.

“I should go soon.” Alex said as he nonetheless curled closer to Ricky, stroking his hand through the other’s hair.

“I don’t want you to go.” Ricky told him with brutal honesty, reaching to grab Alex’s hand and thread their fingers together.

“I know, but I can’t stay…” Alex reminded him and after a moment Ricky shook his head and reached into the nightstand beside the bed as though he was grabbing for condoms and lube. But instead he grabbed a small box, which he handed to Alex wordlessly. “What’s this?”

“Something from me to you. I think it’s time.” Ricky told him softly as Alex unwrapped the paper and open the box, finding a Bambi keyring with 2 sets of keys. “One set is for here, the other is for my place in Barcelona.”

“I don’t know what to say…” Alex told him even as he poked him a bit for the Bambi reference.

“Say you’ll stay. Say you’ll move in. Say you’ll be mine…” Ricky implored him quietly, and almost immediately Alex nodded his head.

“On one condition.”

Staring at Alex with a worried expression on his face, Ricky asked, “What’s that?”

“If you’re insistent on calling me Bambi, I get to call you Thumper.”

Throwing back his head and laughing, Ricky nodded his head, shifting just a tiny inch forward and wrapping his arms around Alex’s hips, leaning in closer to kiss him tenderly, tongues sweeping through the others mouth, but nothing aggressive or possessive about it. “Beats calling me Flower…” Ricky finally whispered to him and this time it was Alex’s turn to laugh.

“You don’t stink. Usually.” Alex teased, and on that note, Ricky pounced him, tickling him fiercely as they both laughed hard.

After a few minutes of that, they cuddled back close together again, hands threading wordlessly, and foreheads leaning back together again. “I’m so glad you’re mine and you’re here….” Ricky whispered to him.

“Nowhere I’d rather be.” Alex told him just as quietly as they leaned close to share another soft kiss.


	39. Friends

It was an opportunity Eliza didn’t have very often – a perfectly asleep Jorge on the couch opposite her, with no one trying to fight for his attention, or get him to sign this, or market that, or or or…while she was grateful for the lifestyle his career enabled him (and by extension her) to have, sometimes her campeón just needed to be an unremarkable man and take a nap.

So while Jorge napped peacefully on one couch, probably having expected Eliza to curl up and follow him when he drifted off, she instead situated herself on a couch opposite of him, pulling out her sketch supplies as quietly as possible and getting to do something she almost never did – draw Jorge.

The little tiny indent in the middle of his forehead which meant he went to sleep with something on his mind, the hair that the media and his friends were so happy to remind him was slowly receding, the plains and curves of his jaw and cheekbone. Every tiny inch of her love was captured with near picture perfect accuracy.

And when it came to his hands, one folded higher up his chest then the other, Eliza decided to take some creative liberties with Jorge. With her tablet open to an image of a French bulldog puppy sleeping, stretched out, she recreated the same image on top of the slumbering Jorge image – so that in picture form, he looked like he had a pet sleeping with him.

Finally putting the picture aside for the moment, Eliza smiled then looked over at Jorge, determining that there was no room on his couch for her to join him. Instead, she just pulled up the blankets at the bottom of his, tucking him in, and moving to head off to the bedroom – until a hand caught her about the wrist. “Where do you think you’re going off to now?” He questioned sleepily, not even opening his eyes to look at her, just keeping a vice grip on her wrist.

“Was going to go off to the bedroom to nap, there’s not enough room where you are for two…”

“Is so.”

“Is not.”

“So.”

“Not." 

"So. Stop fighting me and get over here, angel. I need to feel your body next to mine.”

Sighing softly because she knew she couldn’t resist him like that, Eliza moved back towards the couch, hearing a soft cackle of pleasure come from Jorge’s lips and she made the determination to tickle his ribs once she was on top of him. Carefully curling up, she settled so that they were eye to eye, face to face and just stared down into his open eyes, telling him softly, “You’re a brat.”

“Mmm…this may be the case…aaaack stop that…” and he swatted at her hands briefly to get her to stop tickling. “But I’m 100% completely and totally your brat. And you wouldn’t have me any other way.”

Letting her eyes drift closed as her cheek pressed against his, Eliza nodded, mumbling to him, “My campeón.”

And it wasn’t long before they were both back to sleep.

~*~

“They’re supposed to be here soon, right?” Eliza kept checking her smartphone’s clock, bouncing around on her feet, and generally amusing Jorge with her antics while she waited for Ricky and Alex to show up at their hotel room. They’d thought about going out to dinner, but didn’t want to have to deal with autograph hunters for Jorge or the chance of getting recognized for Ricky and Alex. They may have been ready to move in together but they weren’t quite ready to announce themselves to the world.

Soon enough the door was being knocked on and Jorge was pulling Ricky into a tight hug while Eliza did the same with Alex. And when Ricky went to hug Eliza, Jorge and Alex shrugged at each other for a moment before sharing a hug, too. Going back to Ricky once Eliza was done with him, Jorge mussed up his hair, asking, “How have you been, Ricardet? It’s been too long since we’ve actually seen each other.”

“Eh, shit on track, wonderful off of it. Jonathan being his usual douche self was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Even if soooooomeone was paranoid I was just interested in him so you could get recon on his older brother…”

“Well you are, right? C’mon, gimme the details…” Jorge spread his hands wide and grinned, eyes dancing impishly.

Ricky immediately assumed his Hunchback of Notre Dame pose and hopped off to Jorge, “Master! Master! The Marquez…it is gay!” and while they all cackled at that, Jorge shook his head with a grin.

“Wrong Marquez!”

Ricky grinned even wider if possible and turned back to Alex, taking his hand and bringing it to his mouth to kiss tenderly. “Nah, I’m pretty sure I’ve got the right Marquez.”

“I’m pretty sure you do too,” Inputted Eliza as she poked Jorge in the ribs a few times for his teasing.

Jorge looked at the couple with tender eyes, smiling at Alex even though his eyes slightly cut away from the attention. “You’re happy, Ricardet. That’s all that matters. Even if there is now another key to myyyy house floating around out there.” And Jorge reached across to tickle Ricky, with Ricky immediately responding in kind, drawing out Jorge’s loud happy giggle, the kind that only his friends and family ever heard.

Alex looked worried for a moment until he heard all the laughter and then he relaxed, coming up behind Ricky and wrapping his arms around him, settling his head on Ricky’s shoulders. “Seriously though, Jorge … if you’d like to know something about my brother to…I wouldn’t say get on his good side, but perhaps thaw some of the distrust between you two? There’s a beer in Assen he absolutely loves, but can usually hardly go out and get it. I’ll get you the name if you want, but if you delivered him some after the race, regardless of the outcome, it’ll change the way he looks at you…”

Glancing over at Eliza, almost silently asking her if she’d be willing to go shopping and then nodding on her nod, Jorge told Alex, “We can do that. Leave a little calling card with it, signed from both of us so he knows it’s not just random beer from heaven.”

“Beer from heaven would be awesome. Can we get to ordering so that I can have some?” Giggling as he got poked from two sides, Ricky squirmed but smiled when Jorge handed over the room service menu.

“Have at it, and don’t worry about price.” And while Ricky and Alex were looking over the menu, Jorge grabbed again at the drawing Eliza had done earlier and asked them, “Have you seen this work Eliza did of me while I was napping?”

“French bulldog, huh? I’m not quite sure that’s you…”

“Yeah, me neither. I’d almost think something smaller, a dog you could put in a cage beneath your feet on an airplane and be able to travel with."

Eliza just shrugged at it all. “At least I’ve got him thinking dogs now. For a while all I was getting were logically drawn out ‘no’s.”

Ricky chuckled at that, murmuring, “We’ve got Duma, but I’ve also got family to watch him when we’re at the track. But I couldn’t imagine life without him.”

“That’s been one of my arguments. No one to take care of a dog with all the traveling we do.” Jorge interceded, snagging back the menu from Alex and looking through it quickly before he made his choice and handed it over to Eliza. 

“But if we could travel with the dog, that would make the point moot. I mean if Lewis Hamilton can do it, surely el campeón can do it as well.” Eliza retorted as she too made her menu selection and then handed the menu back to Jorge to call down and order.

“Maybe in time, love…maybe in time.”


	40. And So it Goes

Parked in the bean bag chair she’d bought especially for Jorge’s workout room, Eliza was watching Jorge and Marc work out, tablet on her lap and sketch pad in hand, recreating the image of Jorge’s celebratory leap from his victory at Cataluña a few days prior. She’d grown very accustomed to seeing that leap, seeing as he’d won the last 4 races in a row, and she hoped she’d continue to see it.

In the meanwhile, she sketched away, periodically grabbing different colored pencils to accent things like his leathers or his boots. As she drew, she’d look up and watch Jorge and Marc occasionally, smiling whenever Jorge looked up as well and caught her eye. She blew more than a few kisses in his direction as she sketched, and he did likewise.

Pausing to glance at her watch, she noted that the boys had exceed their morning 4 hours and called out to them, “Lunchtime break, campeón.”

Almost immediately Jorge got to his feet and stretched his arms out, nodding at something Marc said, then going over to nudge Eliza over on the bean bag chair, flopping down beside her to look at her drawing. “I love that you’ve made it so you can make out the tiny little Skull Rider logos on my boots…”

“It’s got to be accurate, to the best of my abilities,” Eliza replied, turning her head slightly to capture Jorge’s lips in a soft kiss.

“Your abilities are very good…” Jorge whispered back against her lips, smiling at her then resting his head on her shoulder.

“That almost sounded porntastic,” Eliza teased him and Jorge nudged her in the ribs, shaking his head slightly.

“For once I didn’t intend it that way. You really are a good artist, angel. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Smiling at him a little more, Eliza leaned in for another kiss, this one a bit longer but no less sweet or gentle, and she sighed happily when they broke the embrace. “You make me believe I can do anything, y’know…”

“You can, angel. You’re very talented, the things you do with just pencils are absolutely amazing…” Jorge assured her, reaching a hand up to run fingers through the loose parts of her hair.

Leaning into his touch almost by instinct, Eliza just absorbed his praise for the time being, not saying a word and just remaining close to him. But after a few minutes, she asked, “Do you want to go take a walk before we come back and have lunch?”

“I’d like that a lot,” Jorge replied. “Maybe bring your sketch pad in case you see anyone or anything worth drawing?”

“You mean besides you,” Eliza teased gently as Jorge’s ears went red. “I can definitely do that though…maybe you should bring your sketch pad as well, you know you do beautiful work…”

“Not nearly as good as you…” Jorge murmured and Eliza shook her head at him.

“We each excel at different mediums. I’m ace with pencils, but you’re remarkable with a paintbrush in your hand. The things you can do with paints blows my mind.”

Quirking a bit of a smile, Jorge rose to his feet, then reached his hands down to help Eliza to hers. “C’mon angel, let’s go take that walk, see what we can find out there worth drawing…”

~*~

After spending some time with his parents and sister in Granollers, Pol had returned to Andorra, by choice choosing to camp out in Aleix’s house rather than his own. Today was to be the day that he and Laura looked at houses in the area, seeing if they could find something that suited not just him, but Eina as well.

It had taken both Laura and Aleix combined to rouse Pol that morning, to get him off of his couch bed, and for him to start acting human. Eina followed him wherever he went, from the bathroom to the kitchen, and back to the couch again to get properly dressed. Normally these days he would have just stayed in bed unless Aleix could convince him to exercise properly, but the importance of finding a new place outweighed his desire to sleep.

So with Laura as his companion, they trekked through various houses in La Massana, finding most houses looked identical to each other, and most lacked proper outdoor space for Eina. Not that Pol needed a huge yard, but Eina would continue to grow and she would need space to run around in.

The last house of the day was one only a few houses away from where he lived now, still almost neighbors with his brother and sister-in-law, and was laid out quite similar to the place he had now, except that there were 3 bedrooms instead of 2.

“I’m not sure I need this much space, but I like this one the most of the ones we’ve seen thus far,” Said Pol to Laura and she nodded her head in agreement.

“It’s a good looking, plenty of room for you and Eina, and room to grow into should you ever find your dream girl…”

Sighing at that, Pol reminded her, “I already had my dream girl and lost her to Lorenzo. Anyone else at this point would just be settling, and I really don’t want to do that…”

“Never give up, Polyccio…” Laura reminded him, tracing her fingers over the tattoo that bore his mantra. “You never know what the future holds for you, for her, for the both of you…perhaps in time things will circle back to you two, together.”

“I’m not holding my breath.” Pol replied. “Even if they keep her hidden in the garage, it’s pretty obvious to anyone who sees them how deep in love they are with each other. It’s going to take someone pretty surreal to break that apart.”

Repeating herself again, Laura once more reminded him, “Never give up, Polyccio.”


	41. Beer Goggles

Long after the dramas of the Assen race had ended, Eliza was working on the little card that would accompany the beers that they had bought for Marc. With Jorge on his cell phone talking to reporters about the race end, now that he’d seen plenty of replays, Eliza gave him a kiss and ventured out into the night, heading off to Marc’s motorcoach.

As she walked, she noted there was clearly still a celebration going on in full effect in Valentino’s motorcoach. Ignoring it, she eventually ended up in front of Marc’s darkened coach, wondering if the young rider had already gone to bed. Shrugging it off, she placed the bottles on his porch and knocked on his door, starting to move away when the door opened and she heard him call out, “Eliza? Jorge’s Eliza? Is that you? What are you doing here?”

Pointing to the bottles she’d placed on his doorstep, she told him simply, “Present from us to you. We have it on good authority those are your favorite beers and you can’t easily get them, so I snuck out and picked some up for you.”

“Why?”

“Because Jorge doesn’t like the lack of relationship you two have and was trying to do something nice. That’s all. No ulterior motives.”

“Are you two doing anything right now?” Marc questioned as he made a grab for the beers, popping one open with a satisfied little sigh.

“Not at the moment, no. He was doing phone interviews when I left, but he may be done with those. Would you like to come over?”

Tilting his head thoughtfully, Marc looked at Eliza for several long moments before finally nodding his head and telling her, “I think I’d like that. So long as you guys don’t mind the company.”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine with it. He wouldn’t have sent me over here with the beers if he had a problem with you, Marc.”

Again looking at her thoughtfully, Marc nodded his head, grabbing 3 of the beers and bringing them back in his coach before grabbing the other 3 to bring with him. “Let’s go then. I think you’ll like this beer. It’s got a very sweet aftertaste to it.”

Resting her hand on his back, Eliza led the way back to Jorge’s motorcoach.

~*~

“Just a heads up, tomorrow there’ll be stuff out there that I thought Valentino won fair and square. That’s not completely the case. I think he won because he’s Vale, not because he did the right thing. But I’m toeing the company line and giving the response that’s expected of me.”

“I understand.” Marc replied as he took a sip from his beer and let out a satisfied sigh. “You don’t know how happy this beer makes me. I didn’t think I’d have the time or opportunity to pick any up this go around and to have this one plus 3 more? You two have made my night, finish be damned.”

“I take your finish if you don’t want it,” Jorge promptly teased and in a moment Marc’s familiar laugh filled the couch. “Oh god, Marquez laughter again!” as Jorge’s giggles nonetheless joined into the effort.

“You’ve heard my brother laugh?” Marc asked, looking genuinely curious.

“A few weekends ago, we were in Andorra, invited them in for dinner. His laugh is more devious than yours is. That scares me. Because if you’re a 4 times champion with THAT laugh…what is he going to be with his??”

“Better than me.” Marc responded immediately. “I’ve got to win it all now because if I don’t as he keeps figuring out the bigger bikes and realizes that they’re more suited to him? I’m fucked. We all are.”

Smiling with what Jorge would say was her ‘evil angel’ smile, Eliza simply stated, “I think Ricky probably is now and has no complaints.”

Groaning loudly, and being joined by Marc, Jorge said to her, “Angel, I’m going to have to change your nickname if you keep coming up with things like that…”

“Whaaaaaaaaat?” She said, blinking her eyelashes and with a vice grip hold on her mostly empty bottle of beer.

Shaking his head at her and gently managing to pry the bottle away and put it into the sink, Jorge came back and tugged her next to him on the couch, murmuring softly in her ear, “Rest, just rest. There’s nothing more you need to do tonight.”

She looked like she was going to argue for a few minutes and then said “Ok” a bit too loudly, before curling up more on Jorge, happy hands thankfully not going exploratory with Marc there. In took another 5 minutes or so before she was lightly snoring and Jorge looked over towards Marc with a smile. “Sorry, she cannot hold liquor at all, I should have warned you of that. Let’s suffice it to say if there was ever a girl that suited my bike’s number design, it’s her.”

“I should probably be going.” Marc replied, and Jorge gave him a small shrug with his unoccupied shoulder.

“Go if you must, but don’t feel obligated to. I can relatively easily move her off to the bedroom to sleep and then I can give you some tips for life after being Valentino’s ‘pal’. Not like I ever really was, but…”

Marc looked at him intrigued. “you think my relationship will change with Vale? No more ranch invites, and such?”

“If the standings stay as close as they are now, and you in any way involved in any battles with him, or hell, maybe even me, he’ll go off like a bottle rocket. And in case you haven’t noticed, he owns the media. Hell he even controls when the press conferences end!”

Marc looked at him as though he couldn’t quite believe him, though he did acknowledge, “I had noticed the press conference thing. I thought it was all in my imagination though…”

“Just keep in mind, with him, everything occurs for a very specific reason. What that reason is? Sometimes only he and maybe even Uccio, knows.”

~*~

When Marc did eventually decide to leave some 10 minutes later, Jorge had managed to slide out from beneath Eliza to bring him to the door. Going back to her once he was gone, Jorge easily scooped her up, smiling when her head went to rest against his shoulder. Moving quietly, but steadily, he brought them both to his bedroom, and again carefully laying her down onto the bed. 

“Rest, angel…” He murmured when she started to pout in her sleep when he was completely pulled away and for the most part she did, though some wandering hands left him with pants tighter than he really would have wanted on a night she was already asleep. Eventually though, she was just in tiny panties and one of his t-shirts, and he in his boxers, and he curled up the bed to take her back in his arms.

“Bambi and Thumper are gettin' some.” She sleepily told him and it took everything in his power not to giggle at her.

“Is that right, sweetheart?” He asked as he nuzzled the top of her head, pulling her in closer so that they were touching practically everywhere.

“Yeah…” She purred in her sleep. “They got a hotel room together.”

Chuckling a little bit, mostly because he couldn’t help it, Jorge hugged her tighter, murmuring at her, “There is never an uneventful day with you, my angel. I hope it stays that way for a long, long time."


	42. Lover's Suite

For Ricky to say that his race (and really, his racing of late) had been a frustrating experience would be an understatement. Yet another race where he was non-classified – but at least Alex was well in the points.

They’d booked a nearby hotel room under fake names, and whoever got there first was going to set up the heart-shaped tub for the other, or really, for them both. Given his finish, Ricky was fully expecting to arrive there first, to raid the mini-bar and have himself a nice relaxing drink while he waited for Alex to be able to debrief and then head on over.

Yet it was Alex who managed to reach the room first, to use the supplied flower petal and spread them throughout the room and into the tub as well. He stripped down to just his boxers and waited on the bed, kicking his feet back and forth and hoping that Ricky would arrive sooner rather than later.

And when Ricky finally did arrive, he looked so…miserable…that it was all Alex could do but wrap his arms around him tightly and reassure him, “It’s just bad luck, amor.”

“Is it?” Ricky questioned as he buried his face against Alex’s neck, inhaling his scent and trying to find some peace in the moment. “I’m going to lose my ride soon at this rate. And then what?”

“I don’t think you will, but if it comes to that, we’ll figure something out. I’ll be here, with you, for you, regardless.” Alex assured him, tightening his grip around Ricky and trying to make him feel engulfed.

“You make me happy, you know that, right?” Ricky questioned, as he lifted his head up off of Alex’s shoulder to stare into the youngers eyes. “You keep me going, keep me believing, you just...make me happy.”

Kissing the top of his forehead, Alex told him softly, “I feel the same way about you. Being with you is the best thing that ever happened to me. Even better than the Moto3 championship…”

“I can’t compare to a championship.” Ricky replied softly. “I’m just me. Nothing special.”

Growling a little bit, Alex leaned in to kiss him sharply, biting at his lower lip and hearing Ricky groan in response. “You’re the world to me. Special. Everything. Like we said, you make me happy beyond words…”

Managing a small little smile, Ricky cuddled in closer with Alex, for the moment just closing his eyes and inhaling the youngers scent.

~*~

“This was a good idea…” Ricky murmured softly as he rested his feet on Alex’s lap, his head leaned back against the edge of the tub, just relaxing and enjoying the feel of Alex’s hands on his feet.

“Worth every penny.” Alex agreed as he lightly rubbed Ricky’s feet, trying to avoid the ticklish spots and just trying to sooth his lover as much as he could.

“Mmmm.” Ricky groaned happily as he felt himself relax more and more under Alex’s light touches. “You make me feel good, amor.”

Smirking a bit as he looked into the water, Alex promptly teased, “I can tell. You’re not happy to see me or anything…”

Laughing a bit, Ricky drew open his eyes to gaze at Alex, telling him in a low voice, “I’m _always_ happy to see you. You haven’t figured that out yet?”

Snorting a little bit in response, Alex told him, “I should take you calling you tripod instead of Thumper.”

Sliding over to Alex’s ‘side’ of the tub, Ricky pressed against him, nipping at his lower lip and then kissing him hungrily, whispering against his lips, “You can call me whatever you want as long as you call me yours…”

Groaning at the feel of Ricky’s hard body against his own, Alex wrapped his arms around Ricky’s neck, holding him to the ferocious kiss, the taste of copper on both of their tongues as the nipped and bit at the others lips. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Alex asked him, “What do you say we take this to bed, hmm?”

Rubbing up against Alex in response, hearing the younger groan again when he did, Ricky turned to whisper against Alex’s ear, “I’d liiiiiiiiiike that. Almost as much as I’d like your hard cock buried in my ass…”

Shivering a little bit, Alex told him softly, “That can definitely be arranged.”

~*~

In bed, both stripped down to just their smiles, Alex looked over Ricky hungrily, the latter with his legs spread wide, all but inviting Alex to have his way with him. Leaning over, Alex brought his lips to Ricky’s, reaching for his bag to grab lube and a condom, coating his finger while he nipped at Ricky’s lips.

Groaning, Ricky reached down to spread his ass cheeks for Alex, soon feeling a lubed finger sliding past resistance and pushing into his hole. It didn’t take Alex long to angle his finger and find Ricky’s prostate, leaving the older man quivering and begging for more from the younger.

“You are the best thing that ever happened to me,” Alex whispered against Ricky’s ear as he rubbed over the latter’s prostate over and over and over again, just trying to make him mindless.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.” Ricky whined as he thrust his body up towards Alex’s, all but begging without words for more. So Alex added a second finger, pumping them both in deeply and making sure to massage Ricky’s prostate, leaving the older writhing in pleasure. “Please Alex...I want you…” When Alex went to rip open the condom, he felt Ricky’s hand on his wrist, telling him, “No, we’re both clean…”

Groaning, Alex just coated his cock in lube and lined up to push in, rubbing his head against Ricky’s hole before pushing in, in one hard deep thrust, leaving them both crying out. Ricky reached up to wrap his arms around Alex, then wrapped his ankles around the other’s ass, all but begging him to push deeper.

It wasn’t long before they had a good, hard, **deep** rhythm going, Ricky crying out every time Alex hit his prostate, which was quite frequently. Grabbing for the youngers hands, he pulled him down on top of him, tugging him into a fierce kiss and just clenching his muscles around Alex with every thrust he made.

Soon enough, Alex was wrapping his hand around Ricky’s long neglected cock and stroking him in time with his thrusts, determined to make his lover mindless and forget about his long day. It wasn’t but a few moments longer before Ricky was spurting out over their stomachs and Alex was following but cumming deep inside Ricky.

Taking several minutes to catch his breath while Alex slowly pulled out, Ricky looked up at Alex with semi-dazed eyes and whispered to him, “I love it when you do that. And I love you…”

Smiling, leaning down to give Ricky probably the gentlest kiss they’d shared of the evening, Alex whispered against Ricky’s lips, “and I love you too, amor. Rest. I’ve got you.”

And when Ricky did pass out, he was curled tightly around Alex, the feeling of safety and love incomparable to anything else in this world.


	43. Fallen Angel

It had become a habit for Eliza after races, wins or not. She’d pour through the sheer mass of photographs available from the race – on bike, off bike – and pick one and sketch it for him. Jorge had come to treasure those sketches, her eye for picking out the perfectly appropriate shot for each race that summed up his feeling for it flawlessly.

So it was another day of Eliza curled up on her bean bag chair watching Jorge workout while she sketched. This time the sketch was taken right after he’d gotten off the bike post-race and was just staring at it, still. Like he was blaming it for his woes for the day, which in a way he would later in post-race interviews.

It was the rare off-bike shot for her where you couldn’t see his eyes, but he’d still had his helmet on at the time. But even still, you could feel the heat of his stare at the bike, and she tried to capture that in her sketch. So focused was she on shading in the right Movistar blue that she never realized that the boys had finished their workout and Jorge was muttering in low Spanish to Marc that she likewise didn’t catch.

But Marc caught the hint to get lost, and get lost he did, planning on giving himself the afternoon off, too.

In the meanwhile, Jorge slide up the bean bag chair from the bottom, nuzzling into Eliza’s neck with a smile and whispering against her skin, “Gonna let me see the latest, angel?” And she promptly flipped it outwards so he could look it over and she ducked her head shyly when he again complimented her abilities. “You always manage to capture the perfect shot, angel…”

“Sometimes it’s several shots I merge into one…” Eliza admitted to Jorge who just shook his head in wonder at her.

“Whatya say I merge you and I into one?” He whisper-growled against her ear, and Eliza shivered as her eyes scanned the room for Marc. “Don’t worry ‘bout him, I told him to scat and he did.”

“Risky still,” Eliza reminded him. “He could come back in at any time and see you buried balls deep inside me…or down my throat…y’know, either way…”

“Fuck, you have a way of getting straight to the heart…or cock of things, don’t you?”

“Who me?” Eliza whispered against his ear, blowing lightly across it before reminding him, “I’m just your angel…”

“My sweet fallen angel. Your halo is more like an anklet now, love. I’ve corrupted you so…”

“Mmm. No complaints here. Well…only one.”

“And what’s that angel?”

“You’re not inside me yet.”

Eliza couldn’t understand Jorge’s growled Spanish response, but she was absolutely certain it was filthy.

~*~

“Hello, what’s this?” Picking up what looked a half-completed drawing from under Pol’s desk, Aleix showed the graphic in question to Laura, trying to see if she had any clue.

“Oh my. That’s an Eliza original of our Polyccio…sleeping, it looks like. Him and Eina with all the covers…”

Snorting a bit, Aleix agreed, “That sounds about right. I don’t know how anyone ever managed to stay asleep sharing a bed with him given how much of a sheet hog he is. He was like that as a kid too…and just as impossible to wake up!”

“We need to tuck that away somewhere…keep it, for sure, because he’ll want it, but hide it, because to see it right now would break his heart. Maybe back in the desk drawer you found it in? He obviously hasn’t remembered it’s there…”

Aleix had just finished tucking the sketch back in the drawer when Pol wandered in with Eina on his tail. “How goes in here?” He asked them, wiping his hand on his brow to get rid of the sweat from working so hard in his bedroom.

“Good progress so far.” Laura told him. “Found some stuff to keep, some stuff to toss – mostly Carlota related stuff. Don’t figure you wanted any reminders of her in the new place.”

“That’s for damn sure,” Pol agreed immediately. “I neither need nor want to be thinking about her in that place. That place is for Eina and I to live, no one else…”

Reaching up to ruffle Pol’s hair, Laura told him, “You never know, Polyccio, you might find someone else to share that place with…”

“I doubt it.” Pol retorted. “I’m not going to pull girls just to have company, and I’m not interested in getting into a relationship again anytime soon. Too much burn out…”

“Well, I’m glad you don’t intend to pull girls just to have company, but you never know what else might happen out there. Maybe you meet your dream girl. You never know…”

Grunting a bit, Pol just shook his head at her and murmured, “Had my chance, blew it, not likely to get another. And so it goes.” Looking around the room and taking stock of all the boxes and trash bags, he added, “Looks like you two have things under control in here. I…we’re…going back to the bedroom to work more on packing up clothes and such.”

“Holler if you need us.” Aleix told him as he stood to give his brother a hug.

Pol just gave them both a half-smile and disappeared back off towards his bedroom again.

~*~

With Marc nowhere to be seen, Eliza and Jorge had been being adventurous, screwing around in several rooms where if Marc returned, he easily would have been able to see and watch them. Eliza blew Jorge in the living room, while Jorge returned the favor in the kitchen.

Eventually they did move upstairs, clothes long since shed, and just attacking each other’s bodies, Eliza dragging her nails down Jorge’s side while he kissed and bit at her lip enough to draw blood. He shifted them around so that she was sitting on his stomach and giving her a dark emerald-eyed stare, he pushed back at her hips until she was capturing his cock, his groan echoing off the walls of his bedroom.

With his feet firmly planted on the bed, Jorge wasted little time setting a brutally hard pace, using his superior strength to slam up into her over and over again, hands on her hips both holding her steady and pulling her down harder on his cock.

“Oh **God** Jorge!” Eliza cried out as he pushed her closer and closer to the edge, quickly getting to a point where she was losing her words and was just babbling and swearing and gasping for breath.

“Let go, Angel.” Jorge growled at her, bringing his hand down so that his thumb was rubbing against her nub, feeling her muscles start to tense as he did so. “I’ve got you and I always will…”

And with those words echoing in her ears, Eliza wailed to the ceiling, crying out as her muscles spasmed around his dick, pulling him over the edge with her shortly thereafter, so that it was his cry echoing around the room.

Rolling to pull out of her but to pull her tightly into his arms, he whispered breathlessly against her neck. “Love you, my angel.”

Still coming down off her high, Eliza could only whisper back, “Love you too…”


	44. Nuria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 44. Ironic how that worked out. If you've been following along and realizing this was taking place 'as the season occurred', then you should have seen this coming. If you don't, sorrynotsorry.

For Eliza, Ibiza was like nothing she’d ever remotely experienced before. A tropical paradise that was beautiful in a whole different way than Lugano or Andorra were. And getting to spend the time there with the love of her life? Just an added bonus.

They’d been in Ibiza for several days when Jorge had to do an appearance at a jamón shop on the island, Enrique Tomas. She understood enough to know that jamón was a big deal in Spain, a well-loved meal, and also that this particular chain was well known. What she couldn’t understand though was why Jorge seemed almost … nervous … to go.

Eventually they showed up at the shop and soon Eliza understood Jorge’s trepidation – the daughter of the shop owner was there as well, and she was so beautiful that she made Eliza look as plain as she often felt. “You know her, don’t you?” Eliza asked under her breath while they were still some distance away, but Jorge’s eyes focused on her.

“I do,” Jorge confirmed. “Her name is Nuria. I’ve known her about 8 years now. She’s never been single when I have…”

Feeling her heart begin to shatter but putting on her best mask for Jorge, she told him, “Well, then find out if she’s single now, ask her out on a date…”

“But I have you…”

“No, if you want to pursue her, I won’t stand in your way. If you and I are truly meant to be, then you’ll come back to me again…”

Turning to look at Eliza with sad eyes, Jorge asked her, “Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

Nodding her head quickly so as though to hide any tears that might be springing up at the corners of her eyes, Eliza confirmed, “It is. I want you to be happy, J. And if she can make you happier than I can, than I want you to be with her…”

Jorge stared at Eliza for a long minute, almost looking like he was contemplating kissing her, before his attention turned to Nuria and he nodded his head slightly. “Ok. Just know you’ll always be my angel.”

Giving him a quick kiss on the forehead, Eliza turned and walked away, exiting the shop without another word.

As Jorge watched her go, he felt a soft hand settle on his shoulder and looking back he saw Nuria with a smile on her face and soft Spanish on her lips. “Jorge? It’s good to see you again…how have you been?”

And with only one more fleeting thought towards Eliza, Jorge settled into an easy conversation with Nuria, picking things up with her like it was natural.

~*~

“R-R-Ricky?” Eliza asked in a voice she could no longer control the tremor of, with tears she could no longer stop from streaming down her face. “Can I come stay with you and Bambi for the foreseeable future?”

“Of course you can, best girl. What happened though? Why wouldn’t you be with Jorge?”

Choking back a sob, Eliza told Ricky in gaspy voice, “We-we-we b-b-broke up…”

“You did what?!?” Ricky practically shouted into the phone, in a complete state of disbelief by that turn of events.

“I had to.” Eliza told him between sniffles, voice almost whisper soft, “There was another girl at the jamón place, someone he’s been eying for 8 years…I couldn’t deny him that opportunity, couldn’t make him settle with me if she’s the one he’s meant to be with…”

“Nuria.” Ricky muttered under his breath. “For fucks sake, Jorge…”

“It was my decision, Ricky…I’m already back in Lugano now, packing up and going to catch a flight in the morning to Barcelona. I just…wanted to make sure I could stay with you and Bambi. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay in Europe, how long I’ll want to, but I at least feel safe with you….and I guess him too…”

“Oh best girl...we’ll take care of you, I promise you that. Just let me know when your flight arrives and I’ll pick you up at the airport, bring you back here, get you settled in again.”

They exchanged a few more pleasantries before ending the call, leaving Eliza to gaze around Jorge’s bedroom with tears continuing to stream down her face. Over. How could it be over so suddenly and with so little fanfare? He’d sworn that she’d always be his angel, but that wasn’t to be the case anymore, was it?

Much of the clothes he’d bought her she was leaving behind – putting in the guest bedroom for him to deal with – but she couldn’t take things that would only remind her of him. That left her with mostly oversized clothes, and the occasional new outfit she’d bought herself that actually fit properly, but she wasn’t sure it would make a difference, anyways.

For the second time in a year someone she loved was telling her (either with words or without) that she wasn’t enough. And that was a helluva hard pill to swallow.

~*~

It was almost early evening by the time Ricky arrived back to Lorenzo House in La Massana, and his co-pilot had exhausted herself from crying and spent much of the trip asleep. Getting Alex to hold open the doors and grab her luggage, Ricky scooped Eliza up and kissed her on the forehead when she snuggled in against him, bringing her upstairs to their bedroom so that they could double team on the comfort.

He knew from the last time this had occurred that it would be hard to convince her to eat and drink, that the greatest thing he could do for her was to keep her distracted. And Alex had offered to help in any way he could, be it going out to get food, or just being a cuddle buddy.

The one thing he hadn’t been able to tell Eliza yet, as distraught as she’d already been, was that he was now rideless in Moto2, that he had nothing lined up for the rest of the season and didn’t know when or if he would. But at the moment, that seemed minor in comparison to her needs, her broken heart, and so he wasn’t worrying about it.

Once Alex got her suitcases situated in the guest room, they both curled around Eliza, just trying to provide her quiet comfort, even as she sniffled in her sleep.

They knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but they were determined not to let her broken heart break her this time.


	45. Unexpected

In the first few days Eliza had spent in Andorra, she’d spent much time hugging the porcelain god, spent much time having Ricky or Alex try and persuade her to eat or drink more. On the flip side, she’d heard so many and enough stories about Alex and Marc’s childhood, that she was never going to run out of blackmail for the ‘Baby Champion’!

Jamón had become noticeably absent from their meals, or attempts at meals, even on this day, when she actually ate her eggs. There were tentative plans in place to join Aleix and Laura at their favorite pub for dinner, the place that Ricky first introduced her to the Espargaro’s so long ago. 

She at least hadn’t thrown up yet on that day, the first positive sign in a few days. And for the first time since arriving in Andorra, Eliza pulled out her sketch pad, the visual that Ricky and Alex were giving her too cute not to sketch. Ricky was sitting stretched out on the couch, with Alex on his lap sideways, their hands interlaced over Ricky’s thigh. Alex’s head was tucked in against Ricky’s shoulder and his pretty brown eyes were closed, but Ricky’s were open, gazing down at his lover affectionately.

Eliza purposefully avoided using the newer pencils, the ones that Jorge had provided her with – the ones she still hadn’t decided what to do with, much like the sketches she had done of Jorge post-races. She was of a mind to just hand it all over to Ricky and let him deal with it as he saw fit, but she wasn’t sure if that was fair to him.

“You two are too adorable.” Eliza whispered to Ricky who just gave her a brilliant smile in return.

“I don’t know about me, but he sure is, with those beautiful brown eyes of his. I’ll never get tired of looking at them.”

Taking a deep breath and forcing a smile on her face, Eliza replied in the same soft voice, “I hope someday I find someone who honestly feels that way about me, isn’t just settling with me, or actually loves me back when I love them…”

“In time, best girl. Everything will fall into place in time. I don’t know what the ultimate result will be, but mark my words, you will find happiness. A real and honest and true happiness.”

Sighing a little bit, Eliza went back to concentrating on her sketch, just watching Ricky run his free hand through Alex’s hair, watching the way Alex leaned into the touch and made content little noises. It reminded her of doing the same with Jorge, leaning into his touch and just relaxing into the feel of him and though tears sprang to her eyes, she managed not to noticeably cry.

Going for some of the different colored pencils, Eliza started to shade in the maroon of Alex’s shirt and the deep blue of Ricky’s. She normally didn’t sit this long for a session for sketching or drawing, but it was the only thing – besides the boys – that was providing her any comfort at the moment, and she was determined to keep at it until it stopped being pleasurable.

And though she thought her tears weren’t obvious, Ricky noticed and whispered to her, “Don’t cry, best girl…we’ll do everything we can to make things better for you. If you want to join in the cuddles we’re certainly up for that.”

“You are my favorite cuddle buddy.” Eliza reminded Ricky with the barest trace of a smile and she was surprised when Alex spoke up thereafter.

“I hope in time I can become your second favorite cuddle buddy.”

Only Ricky could have seen it coming, but it still surprised him when Eliza burst into complete gasping, bawling tears at Alex’s comment, dropping her pencils and curling up on herself, hands covering her face and body rocking just slightly in a self-coping mechanism.

Nudging Alex up, who looked awfully confused by the sudden outburst, Ricky went over to the opposite couch and just wrapped his arms around Eliza, rocking her gently and pressing his lips to her forehead in a gentle kiss. “I know.” He whispered. “J was your second favorite, wasn’t he?”

“Y-y-y-y-yeah.” Eliza managed between choked gasps. “I miss him so much…”

“I know you do, best girl…but you said it yourself. If he’s meant to be yours, he’ll come back to you…”

Eliza’s only response was to continue to sob on Ricky’s shoulder.

~*~

Somehow they’d made it through much of the rest of the day – Eliza spending a good chunk of the afternoon cuddled between the two boys no doubt helping – and she had agreed to go out and see Aleix and Laura. She’d also been told the youngest Espargaro, Mariona, would be in attendance, and would in fact be showing up at Ricky’s place first.

As Eliza prepared to get dressed in one of the few outfits that she had that fit properly, she heard a voice call out, “Ricky, on ets?”

“Hola Mariona! English or Spanish, por favor. Our houseguest doesn’t speak Catalan.”

Ducking her head out of the guest room, still needing to put shoes on but otherwise dressed, Eliza saw a girl that was clearly an Espargaro, and could have been Pol’s twin were she not female. That made Eliza a little bit wary, but when she ventured out further into the room, she found herself getting embraced in a warm hug, a gentle voice telling her, “It’s so nice to finally meet you! Laura talks about you all the time!”

Blushing a bit, Eliza ducked her head, murmuring softly at Mariona, “I’m nothing special. Just me. But it’s nice to finally meet the baby of the family.”

“She’s definitely the baby,” Ricky piped up as Mariona flipped him off. “She’s the one who’s spoiled rotten. Especially by her brothers.”

Shrugging a bit but giggling, Mariona didn’t exactly deny the spoilage and just told Eliza, “Still, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

After a bit – and once Eliza had her shoes on – they headed out to the pub, where Aleix and Laura were already waiting, and had already gotten Eliza a Vodka and Coke to drink. Smiling gratefully at Laura, Eliza let Alex slide in first, followed by Ricky, and then she rounded out that corner, cuddling as close to Ricky as she reasonably could in public, especially with his boyfriend right there.

As Eliza drank and found herself relaxing, she heard a familiar voice echoing the words of earlier, and making the blood slide from her face.

“Mariona, on ets?”

“Back here, Polyccio!” Mariona called out as Eliza’s eyes widened like a dear in headlights, staring at Ricky and finding him just shrugging at her, equally clueless how this had occurred. “But English or Spanish, our guest doesn’t speak Catalan.”

“Guest?” Pol questioned as he approached the table and then froze when he reached it, standing there and staring at Eliza, and finally whispering, “Eliza…” Feeling her stomach start to churn at the mere sight of Pol, Eliza rose to her feet, managing to only get a step before Pol put his hand on his arm and started to say, “I’m so sorry…”

That was all he got out before Eliza turned suddenly and slapped him so hard that his head spun around. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you even dare!” And then whimpering a bit as her stomach churned again, Eliza took off towards the bathroom, not realizing Laura was hot on her heels.

Hand holding his face, Pol stared at Mariona, questioning her, “Why didn’t you tell me she’d be here when you invited me along??”

Staring back and forth between her brothers, seeing Aleix look nearly as distressed as Pol was, Mariona bit her lip and whispered to them, “I didn’t realize you knew each other…”

Ricky just groaned at that and moved to rise to his feet, hand briefly on Pol’s shoulder and telling him, “You should probably go, amic. And maybe take Mariona with you so you can explain to her what happened.” Nodding, and reaching for his sister’s hand with his free one, the other still holding the red mark on his face, Pol moved to exit, while Ricky, Aleix, and Alex all stared at each other. “She’s throwing up again, I’m sure of it.”

And indeed, what little food that the boys had convinced her to eat over the course of the day, along with the alcohol that Laura and Aleix had bought her was exiting Eliza’s stomach as she leaned against one of the toilets in the lady’s room, Laura kneeling behind her trying to help clean her face. “I’m so sorry sweetheart…I had no idea he’d show up…”

“It hurts seeing him almost as bad as it would to see J right now…” Eliza whispered. “You know I’ve never gotten completely over him, no matter how I’ve tried. He was my first love, even if he didn’t love me back...”

“I think he did, sweetheart. But I think he was afraid to tell you, afraid you’d think he was rushing into things. He’s told me he loved you, that you were the best thing that ever happened to him…”

“For being the best thing that ever happened to him, he sure let me go in the cruelest way possible. Let’s face it Laura, I’m just not meant to be loved back. Somewhere along the line, someone will settle with me, and I’ll just try and make them as happy as I know how, and pray that they don’t leave me too.”

Not having anything to respond to that, Laura just wrapped her arms around Eliza in a loose hug before helping her to her feet so they could exit the bathroom.


	46. Conversations

A week to the day that Eliza arrived in Andorra, Ricky received a phone call from Jorge inquiring to her well-being. And he wanted to tell him, wanted to make the asshole suffer like she was, but at the same time, he knew that’s not what Eliza would have wanted in the end. So he told him that she was doing ok, but that she’d handed over pencils Jorge had bought her as well as drawings/sketches she’d done of him post-race, and Ricky wasn’t certain what to do with them.

“The pencils, she can keep. Those were gifts. If nothing else, tell her they’re from one artist to another…but those post-race drawings, I’d really like. Can you bring them with you to Indy?”

Glancing around to ensure that Eliza wasn’t in earshot, Ricky told Jorge in a low voice, “I won’t be at Indy. Tech 3 canned me. They won’t put out the official release until they’ve signed my replacement, but I hear it’s some big shot 18-year-old kid. Good luck to him, he’ll need it…”

“Oh Ricardet, I’m so sorry…” And all Ricky could think in that moment was that if he was truly sorry to anyone it should be Eliza, but he didn’t dare voice it.

“It’s part of the game we play, you know this. You’re above it, but I knew it was coming with no points in any of the races so far. If I’m lucky I’ll land another ride before the end of the season, even if it’s just a one off...”

“Yeah, but it’s still not fair to you when the bike is shit, and everyone in the paddock knows it.”

“Nothing I can do about it now, Jorge.” Ricky told him and sighing a bit, Ricky looked around once more to make sure Eliza was nowhere in earshot, but a quick recon with Alex told him that she was still asleep in her guest room, across the expansive house.

“Listen, when you get a chance, can you tell Eliza thank you for me? I can only assume she did it on purpose, maybe saw Nuria’s Instagram or something…”

“Thank her for what, Jorge?”

“She didn’t tell you? Maybe it was accidental then…” Ricky could almost hear Jorge shake his head through the phone before he continued. “She did a drawing the last time we were in Andorra together, me and a bulldog puppy curled up asleep on top of me. It’s a dead ringer for Nuria’s bulldog, Lola…”

“Honestly, Jorge? Right now I don’t think she’s doing any thinking of you and Nuria, if she can help it. It’s called self-preservation.” And finally unable to stop the growl from coming into his voice he told his friend, “At least one of you remembers you were in a relationship, and is responding to that accordingly. I do truly hope you’re happy with Nuria, but that you had to break Eliza to get there wasn’t cool. I’d love to stay and chat the nuances of your new love, but I’ve got to go take care of your broken one. Goodbye.”

Feeling rather than seeing Alex advance into the room, Ricky just curled into his out held arms, burrowing his head against the taller’s shoulder. It took him several minutes before he could even try and speak but Alex just brought a finger to his mouth followed by his lips, telling him softly, “I know. And without knowing Jorge, right now he’s in that emotional high of the early part of a relationship. He never had to experience the breakup part of him and Eliza…she gave him the biggest gift she could by taking it on completely herself. And now it’s on us to make sure she survives it. And she will. Because she’s tough, and so are we.”

Neither were sure how long Eliza overheard, but they did become aware of a third set of arms settling into the hug, and they both pulled her into the middle, nuzzling and kissing her soothingly.

~*~

When the doorbell rang late in the day, Ricky wasn’t sure who or what to expect, but the absolute last person (besides Jorge) that he was expecting to see was Pol, with Eina in tow. “Can I talk to Eliza?” Pol asked quietly, his hand on Eina’s collar, holding her in place, even as the dog bounced.

Ricky gazed at him intently, unsure whether he should allow this intrusion or not, unsure if Eliza was ready to deal with Pol or not. But after a long moment, he finally conceded, telling Pol, “the first sign of tears out of her and you’re out of here…”

Nodding his head in understanding, Pol let go of Eina’s collar, not surprised when the husky immediately took off towards the living room where Eliza had her feet tucked in under a blanket. No sooner than Eina arrived than she stole the blanket, hopping up onto the couch with Eliza and laying on top of her feet. Eliza didn’t know whether to laugh or cry – so she did both.

It was in that way Pol and Ricky found her when they wandered in a few moments later, and Pol cast a fearful look in Ricky’s direction, certain he was already going to get kicked out, but with a quick ‘go on’ gesture, Ricky indicated that Pol should go further into the room. Moving himself over to the edge of the couch where Eliza set, Ricky kneeled down to kiss her forehead, whispering to her, “If you need me, just yell. I won’t be too far away.”

Nodding, and snuggling down a little bit deeper in one of Alex’s Pistolero shirt’s, Eliza just gazed at Pol with almost empty eyes, not really meeting his gaze, but not completely avoiding it either. “What do you want?” She finally asked in a quiet voice, even as her hand stroked through Eina’s fur.

“I wanted to apologize. Except I’m not even sure where to start. I know I hurt you badly, and I know I have no right to ask for forgiveness of that, but never in my wildest dreams did I see that situation playing out as it did. If I had really thought about it, I would have realized she couldn’t have been pregnant, at least not by me, and I would have kicked her to the curb for good. But even though it scared me, I was so excited by the prospect of being a father…that overrode everything else in my brain…”

Staring at him the full time he spoke, in no way acknowledging him or otherwise showing any indication of forgiveness or not, Eliza just kept petting Eina, eventually telling him softly, “I loved you.”

“I still love you.” Pol told her in just as soft a voice, noting her eyes flickered up to meet his momentarily before they shifted back downward again. “In fact, I even told you that before all hell broke loose, not that you would have understood it – I said it in Catalan. But if you ask my siblings, or Laura, what T’estimo means, they’ll tell you…”

“It’s a little late for that now, Pol.”

“I know it is. And if I could turn back time, see through her farce, and have kept you all this time, I would have. As it is, I’d do anything to get you back. Maybe in time you’ll give me that opportunity. But right now I know I don’t even have the right to ask for forgiveness. Just know I’m very sorry for everything that happened, and how it happened, and that I let the best thing that ever happened to me get hurt in the process.”

Again, Eliza briefly looked up and caught Pol’s eyes, searching them momentarily to seek the truth in his words before she was looking down again, not saying anything for the longest time, just quietly stroking Eina’s fur. It was only as Pol began to stand, to leave, that she told him in the same soft voice, “Thank you for stopping by.”

“Thank you for letting me stop by. And if it counts for anything, I’m sorry for what Jorge did to you.”

Shaking her head, even as Eina pulled away from her to go to Pol’s side, Eliza whispered to him, “He deserves to be happy, really and truly happy.”

Gazing at her for a moment before turning to walk away, Pol told her just as soft, “So do you Eliza. So do you.”


	47. Puppy Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I've got the right word here, but if a native speaker knows better, do feel free to let me know!

After the sweltering heat of the previous week, Eliza was finding Andorra to be much more appetizing when the temperatures were only in the high 20s. She was slowly finding herself again a little more each day – in no small part to her keepers, Alex and Ricky – but she still didn’t venture out very often, and especially not with the heat as it had been.

On one of the nicer days, after a breakfast that still suspiciously lacked jamón, Ricky tugged her outside to the back deck, settling in one of the deck chairs and indicating that she should do the same. “There’s been something I’ve been keeping from you, best girl…”

Looking immediately concerned, Eliza looked at Ricky with wide blue eyes, questioning, “It’s not about you and Bambi, is it?”

“No best girl…he and I are good. Better than good, really. It’s about my racing…”

Tilting her head to the left and then the right, Eliza asked slowly, “What about your racing?”

“Well,” Ricky began, looking out towards the mountainous view, “As it stands right now I won’t be racing for the remainder of the season. My team let me go, they’ll be announcing it in a few days when they’ve finally got the replacement kid officially lined up. I wish him well, the bike is a piece of junk, and I did the best I could with it…”

“Oh Ricky…” Eliza said as she climbed to her feet and went over to Ricky’s chair to wrap her arms around him tightly, feeling him cling just a bit in response. “I’m so sorry this is happening to you. When did you find out? All of this on top of looking after me…you poor sweet man…”

Coughing just a bit, Ricky admitted to her softly, “I found out after Sachenring that they wouldn’t need my services any longer. So I’ve been sitting on that for a while. Never seemed like a good time to make mention of it. But I know they’ll be announcing it in a few days, and I didn’t want you to find out that way…”

Kissing the top of his head, Eliza just shook her own, whispering to him, “So all this time you’ve been taking care of me, you’ve been suffering on your own? Oh Ricky…” And once more she hugged him tightly, again feeling him cling a bit in response. “Is there anything I can do to help? Is there anything Jorge can do? For you, I’d talk to him…”

“No.” Ricky responded immediately. “He’s run a team for me before and it’s better for our friendship if he doesn’t do it again. And besides, he’s not in my good graces for how he handled the situation with you. You didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of that breakup on your own, just so you could try and make him happy.”

“I love him though…” Eliza whispered into Ricky’s hair, feeling tears pool in her eyes again. “Isn’t that what you do for people you love? You make sacrifices for the good of them, or the good of the relationship…”

“That’s just the point though, best girl. You sacrificed the relationship, period. And he was allowed to get off scott-free, with no pain, no heartbreak, no anything. Maybe he’ll have regrets at some stage in the game, but the last time I talked to him he was too blissful to be aware of anything but his own happiness…”

Burrowing her face into Ricky’s hair, she asked him in a voice so soft, he almost didn’t hear it. “I’m not going to get him back, am I?”

Sighing, and not answering for the longest time because he knew it would break her all over again, Ricky finally whispered back to her, “I’m afraid not, best girl…I’m afraid not.”

~*~

After a day spent cuddled between the two lovers, getting back rubs and kisses and otherwise just being showered with affection, Eliza was ready to call the day a dud and head back to her own bed to go take a nap. But Ricky fielded a call from Pol, asking if Eliza might want to come out for a walk along the mountains with him and Eina. Ricky was of a good mind to just outright reject the offer, but he felt like Eliza should make that decision on her own, so he presented it to her.

Much to perhaps all of their surprises – including her own – Eliza agreed, on the condition Pol understood that it changed nothing between them. She simply needed out of the house, out of the monotony, and he’d provided an opportunity with the best furry friend possible.

And so, putting on one of the workout outfits she’d bought when she was occasionally working out with Jorge (something more formfitting than her standard affair), Eliza met Pol at the entrance to the park they’d be walking in, happily taking Eina’s leash when it was offered to her.

“Am I allowed to say that outfit flatters you?” Pol questioned as they walked, hands tucked in his pockets as he watched his little wolf bounce around and explore everything while Eliza kept a tight grip on her leash.

“You can say whatever you want but it changes nothing.” Eliza replied, though Pol did notice a slight blush creep onto her cheeks at the attention. “I’d missed Eina…I wanted to get a puppy with Jorge, but it never worked out…he had too many rules, restrictions, reasons why it wouldn’t work…”

Shrugging a bit, Pol told her, “I just trust my family to watch over her when I can’t. We’ve got cousins relatively nearby, plus Mariona is always happy to take care her favorite wolf. So far, it’s worked out ok. I wish I could be home more, but it’s a sacrifice I chose to make. And I think Eina is worth it.”

Managing a bit of a smile in his direction, Eliza nodded, agreeing, “She’s a very good puppy, very well behaved. Even if she is trying to tug the leash out of my arm socket…” she added with a laugh.

“Eina! Taló!” Commanded Pol and the puppy immediately stopped her bouncing and walked in a more controlled manner.

“Taló…” Eliza tried the word out on her tongue, managing to repeat it as Pol had, earning her a small smile in return. “Is that Catalan for ‘heel’?”

“Yes, exactly. Hang around with me long enough and you’ll start picking up Catalan as well.”

Eliza side-eyed Pol at that but she neither questioned or argued with his statement, either.


	48. Restraint

It was Aleix’s birthday, but upon them realizing that Eliza’s birthday was a few short days later, the party that had originally been designed for one became a party for two. Though the only ones that Eliza knew there were the collective Espargaros, Ricky, and Alex. There were plenty of Villa cousins, chattering away in Catalan, and Eliza tried to pick up the conversation from the words that were similar or the same, but it was a lost cause.

The Espargaro’s mother, who’d introduced herself as Anna, had handed over to Eliza one of the high proof Spanish beers, and she’d been taking pulls off and on for the entire afternoon. At some point, Pol had come over, seeing her confusion at the conversations around her, and started loosely translating, trying to give her an idea at least of what was being said and done around her.

“It’s a lot of girl talk.” He told her at one point and she simply rolled her eyes at him in response. “What? It is. Talking about love lives and babies and things of that nature…”

“You poor bored boy.” Eliza told him somewhat sarcastically, and he shook his head a little bit at her. “Tell me this, Polyccio…where can I get another one of these beers?”

“Ahhh…that I can help you with.” And with that he bounded off from the couch they’d settled on, though Eina remained behind, and came back a few minutes later with 2 of the beers – one for each of them. “These are my favorites.”

Taking a long pull as soon as she got the bottle, Eliza felt herself relaxing, not really caring about the rest of the party around her, and when Pol sat down close enough that she could rest her head on his shoulder, she did, probably much to his surprise. “You always were good to cuddle with.” She murmured softly, just a hint of a slur in her voice as she spoke. “You and Eina. And Ricky. Always Ricky. He’s my absolute favorite cuddle buddy.”

“Would you like me to bring him over here for you to cuddle with?” Pol asked her curiously, still trying to figure out this suddenly more affectionate and almost flirtatious Eliza came from.

“Nah, you’re here, you’re good.” Eliza smiled at him and took another long drink from the beer, letting out a happy sigh. “This really is good beer.” And she burped softly, giggling immediately to herself as she did so.

“Sweetheart, I think you’re drunk.” Pol finally told her, and Eliza shrugged her shoulders at him.

“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. Maybe I’m just having fun for the first time in weeks and not thinking about Mr. I Move On at the Speed of Light in Lugano…” And most certainly surprising Pol, she rested her hand on his thigh, lightly tracing patterns with her fingertips and leaving him scrambling to grab her hand and keeping things somewhat under control.

“You get very honest when you’re drunk.” Pol murmured at her and risking the wrath of Ricky if he found out, he asked her, “What do you really think of me, sweetheart?”

“I think I love you.” She answered immediately. “But I don’t like you very much. You were very mean to me, even if you did apologize. But you’re still very attractive.” And before Pol could even comprehend what was happening, she was leaning in and kissing him, tongue pushing in for entrance into his mouth as the room suddenly filled with catcalls and whistles.

Pulling back from her as much to catch his breath as to again try and get things under control, Pol told her, “I’m not going to let you do anything you might regret. I’m also not going to be your drunken rebound to Lorenzo.”

Eliza pouted at him at that, asking him in a voice that would have sounded innocent if not for the slur. “Can you take me home with you at least? I want to cuddle with you and Eina tonight...”

Looking around for Ricky and not seeing him, Pol somewhat reluctantly agreed, telling her, “Just cuddle though, sweetheart. I can’t deny you that.” And rising to his feet, he carefully pulled Eliza to hers, not the least bit surprised when she wobbled on her feet and giggled a bit. “You really cannot hold your alcohol.” He said, shaking his head, and wrapping his arm around his hip to keep her steady, he whistled for Eina so they could head off to his place.

Neither were aware of Mama Villa watching the whole scene with interest.

~*~

The morning after the party, Eliza woke in a long unfamiliar bed, but in a very familiar position – tucked up against Pol with her face pressed against his neck, and Eina curled up over their feet. Quickly trying to take stock of the situation – despite the marching band keeping its own beat in her head – she realized that she was lacking a bra, but still had on panties, and was wearing a t-shirt that she didn’t recall having put on the day before.

Nervous, and more than a bit concerned about what she might have done while inebriated, Eliza lightly shook Pol until he drew his eyes open to gaze at her, he too apparently trying to take stock of the situation. Eventually he just said to her softly, “Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”

“Like an orchestra has taken root in my head and won’t stop playing,” She answered as she eyed him warily. “We didn’t do…anything…did we?”

“Kissed…made out a little bit. But I wouldn’t let you go any further than that,” Pol told her immediately. “There was no way I was going to take advantage of you in that situation, even though you did try and initiate things.”

Cringing a bit, she pulled away from him, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking around, realizing this wasn’t the same house she’d seen before and said to him matter-of-factually, “You moved…”

“I did. There were too many bad memories in the old house, and the backyard was too small for the size dog Eina will be. So Laura helped me find this place. More bedrooms for whenever I settle down, or so she says.” And he snorted to indicate his belief in the likelihood of that happening.

“Did you take my bra off?” She asked out of nowhere and he nodded immediately.

“I did help you out of it, yes. I remembered you didn’t like to sleep with one on, so I helped you get it off. Though you did try and get me to grope you afterwards, I resisted.”

“Thank you for that.” She said softly, looking down at the bed and suddenly feeling very embarrassed about the whole situation. “Did I say or do anything else stupid last night?”

“No, I kept us within limits. I hope you don’t object too much to kissing me again…”

“You always were a good kisser.” She told him softly, unwilling to meet his eyes.

“I’m flattered.” He told her, as he moved to climb from the bed and to his feet. “Why don’t you stay here and I’ll make you breakfast and get you some medicine for your headache. Then when you feel like it, you can go home and assure Ricky I didn’t have my wicked way with you.”

Giving him a very crooked little smile, Eliza whispered a soft, “Thank you,” in response.

~*~

Sometime around noon, Pol dropped Eliza off at Lorenzo House, with Ricky giving her a quick once-over once she came in the door. “Are you ok?” He asked immediately. “You didn’t do anything with Pol, did you? I don’t have to kill him, do I?”

“Ok now that the headache is down to a dull roar, made out with Pol but don’t really regret it, and I’d say no to killing him, because he kept him…us…from crossing any lines that I would have regreted this morning.”

Ricky wrinkled his nose at her words, asking, “Don’t _really_ regret?”

“I apparently tried to initiate things with him but he kept us to making out and kissing. He helped me get into bed clothes, which now feels a bit awkward, but he didn’t do anything wrong.” Shrugging a bit, Eliza added, “My own fault for drinking so much.”

“Oh best girl. I’ll have words with him, make sure he didn’t take advantage of you…”

“He said he didn’t. His eyes were honest. And to be perfectly blunt, I don’t _feel_ like I did anything with him, so I’m taking him at his word.”

Ricky’s ears went a bit red at her words but he nodded his head again, murmuring, “I should have kept a better eye on you. I’m sorry for that. I got caught up with the cousins, and got distracted…”

“I’m a big girl, Ricky. If I had done anything I regreted, that would have been my own fault, not yours, and not even Pol’s. That doesn’t mean that I like him any better than I did yesterday, but I’ll give him credit for not taking advantage of the situation.”

Sighing softly and tugging her into a hug, he decided to change the subject and asked her, “How goes your sketching of your tattoo?”

“Good.” She told him with a smile. “I think I’m going to be really happy with the finished result, especially if the artist you and Laura recommended is even half as good as you say they are.”

“Speaking of the tattoo. Alex and I have discussed it and we’ve decided that as our birthday present to you, we’re paying for the tattoo.”

“You don’t need to do that.” Eliza told him immediately. “I’ve got money saved up from working for he who shall not be named.”

“We know we don’t need to. We’re doing it as our gift to you. Stop arguing and accept it.” Ricky tickled her as he spoke, getting her to squirm and giggle and eventually nod her head, conceding.

“I agree! I agree! Stooooooooop with the tickles!” She giggled before moving closer to curl up with him.

“Ahhh...my favorite cuddle buddy.” And Eliza nuzzled his neck affectionately. “I think Bambi might have to settle for third favorite.”

“Pol?” Ricky questioned.

“Pol.” Eliza admitted.


	49. Flower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an image of what the tattoo looks like, go here -> https://external-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQCqjWVWonRTKRUf&w=960&h=960&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthumbs.dreamstime.com%2Fz%2Fdon-t-give-up-lettering-hand-drawn-motivational-watercolor-poster-flowers-56731580.jpg

On her birthday, and on a trip to Barcelona alone, Eliza was curious how well she’d pull off her Spanish, and get the intent of her drawing to the artist who’d be transferring it onto her body. She’d decided on a Flower-ish theme, with the message “Don’t Give Up” in a yellowish-orange to be placed on the back of her shoulder. The flowers would be outlined by leaves and other details that likely would be finished at a second tattoo session.

This session was expecting to take up to 4 hours, assuming she and the artist could handle that time frame. Because of the intrinsic, watercolor nature of the flowers, they’d scheduled multiple brakes into the schedule.

She’d picked the flowers after learning that Bambi had taken to calling Ricky “Thumper”, and she felt like their “Flower” – the plain if not ugly looking friend, often forgotten, or one that most had little usage for. If that didn’t sum up her coming out of her relationship with Jorge, she didn’t know what did. But that was why she’d also added the adage – Don’t Give Up – because no matter how often she’d wanted to in those first few days after both breakups had shattered her, Ricky wouldn’t let her give up.

Knowing she couldn’t keep Ricky in her pocket forever, she chose to place a reminder of him (and his little Bambi) on her shoulder instead.

~*~

Finally arriving back in Andorra some 6 hours after she left, Eliza was still wincing periodically when she moved her shoulder wrong and the tape on her skin caught. It would seem like a simple task to not use that shoulder as much until they were able to take the covering off to start the self-care, but Eliza was having all sorts of issues.

But eventually she was home, or what was as close to becoming home as possible. There was a part of her that absolutely loathed living in a house that Jorge owned, but until a time came that Ricky chose to move out – or she did - then that was her situation. And at this point, she had more money going out than coming in, so moving out wouldn’t be an especially smart idea – unless she could get back on with the maid agency again, an idea she had considered.

In the meanwhile, she parked her car in her spot and headed inside, surprised when confetti and such was thrown at her by Ricky, Alex, Aleix, and Laura. She noticed immediately Pol’s absence, and wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Yes, she was still angry with him – were they that afraid that inviting him would upset her more? She couldn’t be sure.

“So you guys want to see the new ink?” Eliza asked brightly, determined not to let anything get her down, and when their heads nodded, Eliza turned towards Ricky, asking him, “Can you do the honors of removing the covering? I can’t really reach.”

Carefully he pried off the covering, and gasped almost immediately, and as he did so, the others came over to see and they too gasped, leaving Eliza concerned.

“What, did something happen on the drive back? I knew I’d screw it up…”

“No best girl…It’s perfect…I promise you that. Just…it’s very similar to Polyccio’s…”

And Eliza gasped at that, suddenly remembering the first thing that had attracted her to Pol - the script words on his wrist, reminding him to Never Give Up, and a date that was eluding her at the moment. “Oh my god…” She whispered. “How could I do that?”

It was at that moment that the doorbell rang and after exchanging glances with the others Ricky went off to answer it, Eina bounding into the room to announce the newest arrival far before he arrived. And when Pol came into the room with a smile and a cake, all Eliza could do was drop to her knees and burst into tears, arms wrapped tightly around Eina’s fur.

Staring at Aleix, Pol muttered in low Catalan, “I told you this was a bad idea!”

~*~

Feeling too awkward to stick around after Eliza had burst into tears on his arrival, Pol had departed quickly thereafter, taking Eina with him, and not too long after that, Aleix and Laura had left as well, making excuses about needing to get back to the beagles.

While Eliza curled up on the couch with her face burrowed in her arms, Ricky quietly took care of her tattoo for her, murmuring at her, “It’s still a beautiful tattoo, best girl. I love the watercolor effect that you’ve got started there. I can only imagine how good it’s going to look when it’s done…”

“Why should I finish it?” She asked sniffling, even as Alex came over to run a hand through her hair quietly.

“Well, for one, it’s already paid for, and for two, it looks incomplete right now. You’re too pretty to leave something like that undone.” Ricky told her matter-of-factually and she just sighed at him.

“You’re right, I know you are, but how could I get a tattoo so close to what he has? What was I thinking?”

Still stroking her hair, Alex spoke very softly and a bit cautiously, “Maybe you subconsciously decided to do it? Your mind’s way of telling you to start forgiving him and work things out maybe?”

“He hurt me, Bambi…”

“I know he did. But you can’t spend the rest of your life afraid of love or relationships, or holding a grudge. Where would Thumper and I be if he’d refused to try and love again?”

“Point.” She conceded, and sighed once more, shifting upwards when Ricky indicated it was ok to do so. “This has been a shittastic birthday. I thought it was going to be an awesome one, and it’s turned out just as shitty as every other day of late…I’m doomed to a life of misery, I fear.”

“Give it time, best girl. I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face, but it’s true. Good things come to those who wait.”

Eliza just shook her head a little bit, and curled back in on herself.


	50. Pre-Owned

With the riders (minus Ricky) in the United States for the race at Indianapolis, Ricky and Eliza found themselves Eina-sitting. Or at least technically Eliza was. Knowing how much Eliza adored his wolf pup, and hearing that she wouldn’t be going to the races, Pol had asked her if she’d mind watching Eina for him, to which she’d happily agreed.

And the puppy had behaved well, leading to plenty of opportunities for Eliza to sketch her, even and including during races, as she was now. The puppy was curled up in a ball with her head on her paws, looking downright adorable.

“I can’t believe you’re sketching the dog during the races.” Ricky lamented.

“What?” Eliza questioned as she hesitantly grabbed for one of the colors that Jorge had left her, starting to shade in Eina’s fur before adding, “It’s not like I’m unaware that Bambi is having himself a nice little race. 10th is nothing to be ashamed of for a rookie in the class.” She paused, turned and eyed Ricky directly, pointing out, “I’m also aware your little replacement had no better luck than you did, so clearly, the issues are totally you.”

Cracking a bit of a smile at that, even as he rolled his eyes, Ricky told her, “It’s nice seeing it’s not just me, y’know?”

“Hah, I’m teaching Spaniards American slang, I love it!” Eliza teased him and Ricky pounced, tickling her furiously and sending the sketch flying to the floor, waking up Eina in the process, who came over to investigate the noises (giggles) that Eliza was making and eventually trying to nose in between Ricky and Eliza on the couch. “There, now you’ve ensured I won’t be drawing during the MotoGP race.” She told him, sticking her tongue out at him even though one knee bounced nervously.

Eina meanwhile circled around on the couch until she was completely in the middle of Ricky and Eliza, finally settling with her head and paws on Eliza’s lap, her hands immediately going to ruffle the puppy’s fur. “You’re trying to replace me as your favorite cuddle buddy I see…”

“I’m not, she is!” Eliza chuckled, as she reached an arm over to settle it on the back of his neck, Ricky leaning up slightly into the touch. “You’re still my favorite human cuddle buddy. But she’s got the furry market cornered.”

Ricky grumbled a bit at that, but another squeeze to the back of his neck made the grumble turn into a purr and Eliza just grinned.

~*~

With just a scant few laps remaining in the MotoGP race at Indy, Ricky and Eliza kept exchanging glances like they weren’t sure how to react to what was on the TV screen in front of them. Jorge was leading, but Marc was very close on his tail, and seemed to be timing his move for a very late race pass, to secure the win and continue his dominance of America.

“C’mon Marc...” Eliza finally whispered softly as her fingers tightened in Eina’s fur when the boys got particularly close.

It took Marc completing the pass of Jorge before Ricky finally reacted with an exuberant “YES!” that made Eliza giggle at him. “What? I don’t want that asshole to win…”

Make a small tsk noise at him at his choice of words, Eliza nonetheless gave Ricky’s hand a squeeze, the hand that had migrated down from the back of his neck. She still was waffling on her hate of Jorge, still struggling to believe that she was never going to get him back, but in the moments that she could see clearly, then the dislike was strong. Still, she never would have believed she would have been rooting for one of his opponents on a race weekend. When the race finally did end and Marc was indeed the victor, Eliza loosened her grip on Ricky’s hand and teased him slightly, “Aww, future brother-in-law, doing good.”

“Shut up.” Ricky huffed at her, eyes a bit indignant, but otherwise no real malice intended. “It’s way too soon to even be thinking about marriage with him. Let me date him for like a year first before we go there. Hell, we’ve still avoiding playing meet-the-parents, even though mine know I’m gay, and his know he’s bi.”

“Worried some about the age difference?”

“A bit. But if they can adapt as generally quick as Marc did, then there should be no issue.”

“I’m not sure anyone does anything as quick as Marc.” Eliza retorted, adding on so her intent was clear, “Jorge sure as shit doesn’t…”

“Damn! Burn!”

“Pssh. I’m sure the wonderful new girlfriend will kiss it and make it better.” And shake her head a bit Eliza nudged at Eina’s paws, trying to get the puppy to move so she could gather up the discarded sketch pad and pencils.

“We need to work on getting you a wonderful new boyfriend. Or maybe a girlfriend?” And expecting a swat Ricky only received a shrug. “Really now.”

“At this point Ricky, I’d happily settle with a dog if it would make me happy and give me the occasional kisses.” To which Eina promptly slobbered on Eliza, making her giggle a bit. “Yes, this one will do just fine.”

“You remember that one comes pre-owned, yes?”

“I know. But he’s also let me watch her all weekend, and he’s blown kisses at the camera every time it’s on him. He’s out of his mind, but it’s endearing.”

Ricky decidedly to wisely sit on the knowledge that Pol had been blowing kisses to the camera long before Eliza came into the picture. If she wanted to think Pol was blowing her kisses, who was he to stop that?


	51. Strange Bedfellows

To say it had been a bit of a crazy week would be an understatement. First, Ricky got a ride for the rest of the season with a team out of Malaysia, then after a discussion with both boys about her financial situation, Alex talked with his team and hired on Eliza to do English translations of his tweets and Instagrams. It wasn’t a big job, and the money coming in wasn’t much, but it was better than just having cash exiting. 

But what really changed things was a simple drawing – Eliza had sketched out the brothers (including honorary brother Tito) in their MX gear, walking away from the track together, with Marc laughing, Tito shaking his head, and Alex just grinning. Alex liked it so much he put it in his brother’s motorcoach, and Marc liked it so much he brought it to the pre-race press conference to show it off.

Even before the drawing, Marc had offered up the spare couch in his coach for Eliza to sleep on, rather than her trying to stay with Alex and his team. So when he looked over the sketch he told her simply, “You should be selling these to us riders. I’m sure you could make a decent chunk of change by offering sketches…”

Shrugging at him, Eliza asked, “Who would buy them? I mean most of the time I’m basing them off of one or more photos that I’ve seen. Like that one, you have, that’s not an actual photo, that’s based off of a few photos your brother had.”

“I would buy them for one. And I’m sure someone like Vale would as well. Dani probably too…”

“I used to do post-race drawing for Jorge when we were together. I’d pick something from the race, during or after usually, and sketch it out. I don’t know what happened to those sketches, either. I gave them to Ricky to deal with.” Eliza answered him.

“I still can’t believe that idiot let you go.” Marc told her quietly, shaking his head a bit.

“I let him go. Because I knew he wanted to be with her. And I figured if he and I were truly meant to be, he’d come back.” Giving Marc a shaky smile she said, “Needless to say, that hasn’t been the case.” 

“I’m sorry for that.” Marc told her in the same quiet voice as she trembled a bit. “No crying please, I wouldn’t know where or how to start to comfort you…”

“Call your brother over,” Eliza responded. “He’s not my favorite cuddle buddy, but he’d do.”

Raising an eyebrow, Marc asked, “Who’s your favorite?”

“Human wise, Ricky. Furry wise, Eina.”

Nodding a bit, Marc grabbed his phone and fired off a text, and a few moments later both Ricky and Alex showed up at Marc’s door. “Go to the presser,” Alex told his brother. “We’re good at watching this one, and everything will be well under control by the time you get back.”

Watching Eliza give him another shaky smile and a nod, Marc headed out to the press conference, sketch still in hand, and hoping for his brother’s sake that they’d be able to soothe his coach-guest.

~*~

Gathered in a little group, talking before the press conference began properly, Marc, Dani, and Valentino were chatting about the sketch in Marc’s hands.

“And is from Lorenzo’s…former…girl…you say? ‘ow much is she charging for them?” Valentino inquired, marveling at the exquisite pencil work, and how much it looked like a real photograph.

“Don’t know,” Marc answered. “trying to find that out turned into a conversation about him and she was on the borderline of crying again, so I asked my brother to look after her. They get on well, so hopefully he’ll be able to calm her back down.”

“Poor girl.” Dani said quietly. “Well, wait until you can have that conversation with her without her bursting into tears. Then let her know I’d be interested in seeing what she could do for me over the course of a race weekend.”

“Yes, me too.” Valentino agreed and Marc sent off a text to his brother at their words, then explained.

“Texted Alex to see if he could have that conversation with her and give us answers. I’ll let you know once I have something to tell you.”

At that point they were finally all ushered into the press conference proper, with Vale still holding onto the drawing. Marc silently reached for it back, but as he did so, he felt a set of dark green eyes staring at both the drawing and him, almost in challenge. Not resisting the urge to be a brat, Marc flipped Jorge off beneath the table, as Valentino started to quietly shake in laughter.

Jorge’s eyes merely narrowed at them both.

~*~

When the press conference ended and the riders were on their way back to their own motorcoach’s for the evening – and safely away from the press and paparazzi – Jorge called out to Marc in Catalan, “So what’s this I hear about Eliza being in your motorcoach?”

Not even bothering to look at him, Marc replied, “I’m not sure that’s in any way your concern, now is it?”

“I don’t trust you around here.”

Snorting, and then laughing, Marc finally turned to level Jorge with a stone-eyed stare. “Don’t act like you suddenly care about her, or her well-being. You trusted me around her enough months ago to let her in your coach collectively and even bought me beer. That was the only time you had say on the matter.”

“I do care!” Jorge protested, hands balling into fists.

Waving a hand dismissively at him and finally having reached his own coach, Marc jumped inside and closed the door after himself, grateful after a moment that he hadn’t slammed it closed.

Because the sight that greeted him, the one that had him thunderstruck standing just inside his door, had Eliza curled up and sleeping between Ricky and Alex’s arms, and the two boys fast asleep as well.

As Marc quietly edged into the coach to grab a bottle of water, he could only watch the 3 in amazement.

~*~

A knock on his door later in the evening had Marc immediately on the defensive, though the strange threesome had finally awoken and separated. Heading to the door to peek out he found, of all people, Pol Espargaro gazing back at him, and asking in a soft voice, “Can you ask Eliza if she’d like to come out for a ride around the track?”

Leaning back inside to find that the conversation the three had been having had halted, Eliza gazed with wide eyes back and forth between Ricky and Alex, biting immediately on her lip. “You can go if you want, best girl,” Ricky told her, but she shook her head quickly in response.

“I’m not ready for that yet. I still don’t like him…” she answered and Alex rubbed her shoulders quietly.

“Can you relay that?” Ricky asked Marc quietly and he nodded, ducking his head back out the door.

But Eliza interrupted and said with an even softer voice still, “Maybe some other time, some other track?”

But it appeared that Pol had heard the first words already, for his face had fallen and he looked incredibly sad in that moment, almost enough so that Marc felt bad for his former rival. “She’s not ready right now. She said maybe some other time, some other track…”

Pol’s smile returned slightly at that and he nodded, and without another word to Marc or those inside the coach he headed off, returning to his own motorcoach for the evening.

As Marc closed the door and turned around he found Eliza back in Ricky’s arms again, the latter quietly soothing her, while his little brother continued to rub her shoulders.

They made strange bedfellows, but as long as Eliza wasn’t disrupting the boys’ relationship, Marc wasn’t going to say a word of complaint.


	52. Commissions

Selling sketches had turned out to be the best idea that Marc or anyone had ever had for her. Whereas Eliza had been bleeding money like a sieve, she now not only could afford to chip into household expenses at Lorenzo House, she also potentially could move out and back into a studio apartment if she so desired. And as much as she loved the boys, the studio was an option she was seriously considering, just so they’d have their own space back and she could try to get on living again.

Based on the calculations she’d done, based on the amounts each rider had given her for her artwork, plus what Alex’s team was paying her, Eliza would have enough to make it through to the winter – at which point she could fly back home to the States, resume art school, and if she was truly lucky, forget all about Pol and Jorge.

And though she’d spent a good shake of time working on the various sketches and making them perfect for the riders in question, she’d also been implored by Pol on several occasions to take a break, come out and enjoy the weather, and walk Eina with him. It was the last part that always got her. She couldn’t resist the ever growing ball of fur, and the love affair there seemed mutual.

But as much as she wanted to walk with them daily, the size of the sketch Valentino had commissioned meant she was working hard daily to try and complete it. He’d mentioned something about Riders for Health, and donating it for it to be auctioned off to fans – a flattering concept if there ever was one for an artist such as Eliza.

The picture she’d chosen to work with for him had been one of him popping a wheelie after finishing 3rd in the Brno race, one hand steadying the bike while the other waved to the crowd. It was classic Valentino, ever the showman, as Eliza was beginning to learn. Because of the size of the sketch, some of her blue pencils were getting down towards the nubs with all of the blue in the Movistar leathers and Yamaha bike. She was going to need to replace them soon, but at least now she had the money to do so.

As she worked, she let Ricky and Alex follow along, both of them as always amazed by the astonishingly detailed quality of work that came out of her hands. In the giant sketch in question, you could even make out the impishness in Valentino’s eyes, no small feat for her to accomplish.

But as always she eventually did need a break and it was at that point she would text Pol in Catalan with a simple word, “Caminem?”

And the answer she always received back was “Sí.”

~*~

With the race weekend half through, Eliza was still working on trying to finish the sketches from Brno after managing to finish Valentino’s in time for the auction. She was quite surprised at how much it sold for, but attributed that in no small part to his autograph gracing the sketch, rather than the fact that it was a 1 of 1 that she’d signed as well.

Marc had been watching her as she sketched, watching as she paused periodically to shuffle through pictures that had been acquired for her and then went back to sketching again. “You are an amazing artist; I hope you know that.”

Blushing slightly at his words, Eliza told him simply, “I don’t know about amazing, but it’s something I enjoy doing that I seem to be good at so…” And she shrugged a bit, looking up from Dani’s sketch to give Marc a small, shy smile.

“Trust me, I’ve never seen anything quite like what you do. It really is amazing. I’ve watched you combine pictures and make it look so easy that I want to grab a sketchpad and try for myself!”

Blushing even more at that, Eliza told him. “It’s a gift. Sort of like how you ride a bike. Some things some people are just good at, and are lucky enough to discover that they’re good at it to be able to truly enjoy things.”

“That’s very true,” Marc agreed and adding, “I’m lucky my father enjoyed motorcycles as much as he did, or maybe I never would have found out that I was good at this.”

As Eliza put the pencils down to take a break, a knock came on Marc’s door, leading them to look at each other and ask in near harmony, “Were you expecting anyone?” After laughing over the timing and both shaking their heads, Marc rose to his feet to go to the door.

And this time he was less surprised when he saw Pol there, rocking back and forth on his feet and giving Marc and awkward smile. “I just came over to see if Eliza needed a break and wanted to take a walk around the paddock area with me…”

Peeking around the door so that Pol could see her, she gazed at him thoughtfully – this would be the first time they’d walked with just the two of them and no Eina to act as a furry buffer. Finally, after several moments she nodded her head, agreeing, “I could use the break, I think. Let me put shoes on and I’ll join you in a few moments, ok?”

Pol nodded his head and shifted to settle in one of Marc’s lounge chairs, feet bouncing as he waited on Eliza to come out and join him, which she did a few minutes later. “Thank you for joining me,” He told her softly, fighting the urge to grab her hand and hold it.

“You’re good company,” Eliza responded, blushing as she admitted it.

“I can say the same about you,” Pol replied as he lightly nudged her shoulder with his own, smiling in her direction.

“You had good timing today. My hand was starting to get sore from all that drawing…”

Unable to resist at her words, Pol reached for her drawing hand and started to gently massage it, worried about her reaction until hearing her make a contented sighing noise. “This helping any, sweetheart?”

“Yes, thank you.” Eliza replied, giving Pol another shy smile. She didn’t even object when Pol continued to hold the hand, squeezing it lightly in his own.

“How long or far do you want to go today?” Pol asked her, squeezing her hand again.

“Not too long or far, if you don’t mind. I’ve got to finish Dani’s drawing.”

“Okay sweetheart. Whatever you want.” Pol replied, swinging their hands slightly as Eliza looked over at him and gave him a shy smile.

Neither one of them noticed or felt the pair of dark green eyes watching them intently from the most modern coach in the paddock.


	53. Taking Care

Watching the Misano race from the Repsol Team Honda garage with Alex gave Eliza a different view on the whole experience than she’d ever had with Jorge. For one, there was no hiding her – she was simply out in plain view with an Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS work shirt on. She could publically cheer for Marc if she wanted to, or she could hide behind Alex and let him shield her from view.

She couldn’t deny jumping a bit when Jorge had his highside, especially when he got up and was holding his hand, but when Alex turned more towards her as though to comfort her, she shook his head, mouthing to him, ‘It’s okay’. He gave her a curious look and she pulled him back out of sight of the cameras, murmuring to him, “Not my monkey nor my circus any longer. He’s got his own girlfriend to kiss his owies better.”

Alex raised his eyebrow but gave Eliza a small hug, turning them back towards the big screens to watch the remainder of the race. And it was clear as the race continued on from that point, it was Marc’s race to lose.

With a few laps to go, Eliza turned to Alex and asked, “So do we head to parc ferme now?”

“NO!” He blurted, louder than he intended, attracting them some attention from the others watching in the garage before he shyly shooed them away and they returned to watching the race. Voice much lower for Eliza only to hear, he explained to her, “That would be bad luck. Like leaving a football game when your team is up and there’s not much time on the clock but you want to avoid parking?” Off Eliza’s confused look, Alex shook his head a bit and just repeated again. “Bad luck. We don’t head down there until he crosses the finish line.

And so they waited the few remaining laps until yes, Marc did indeed cross the finish line first, and they took off towards victory lane, knowing his celebrations were downright legendary. And once Marc did show up, he leaped into the awaiting arms of his brother and others, the collective Marquez laugher surrounding her both scary and hilarious all at the same time. ‘At least this time they managed to get his crotch OVER the barrier’, she thought, still chuckling with the rest of the group and hooting and hollering.

Eventually Marc, Bradley and Scott headed up towards the podium and risking getting ignored or outright blasted for the gear she was asking the question from, Eliza lightly tugged on the sleeve of one of Bradley’s Tech3 guys, asking, “Is everything alright with Pol? I saw he didn’t finish the race…”

“Mechanical woes, I think. Anthem time!” and Eliza found herself humming along with the Spanish national anthem, one she’d heard often enough in recent months to memorize.

When the anthem and presentations were over, Eliza spotted Ricky casually hanging around the Tech3 group – a classy move if ever there was one considering their dismissal of them – searching for information on Pol. “Mechanical.” He told Eliza as she approached and she nodded.

“Found that out from one of Bradley’s guys. Poor guy. He was running so much better than he finished…”

“Yeah, I know, it sucks. They shouldn’t have gone for the second bike change, but he must have thought more would follow him when he did it. He’s going to be so disappointed in himself…”

“I guess I should check out his motorcoach, see how he’s holding up.” Eliza retorted, and seeing several flashes of black – Lorenzo black as it were – approaching from the side, Eliza turned her head and walked away, not acknowledging any of them in any way, shape or form.

~*~

Knocking on the door to Pol’s coach, it several moments before the rider opened the door, a frustrated look on his face that was replaced by one of curiosity when he saw who was on the other side. “I figured you’d be checking on Lorenzo after his crash.” Pol grumbled and Eliza rolled her eyes at him.

“He’s got a girlfriend for that. Not my problem any longer.” She retorted as he raised an eyebrow at her. “What? It’s the truth. He can’t be assed to care about me, then I sure as shit can’t be assed to care about him. Yes, I jumped when he crashed, but that was more because of how vicious it was…”

“So what are you doing here?” Pol inquired as he paced away from the door, leaving it open for her to enter if she so desired, which she did after a moment.

“I came to check on you.” She told him simply. “I heard you had mechanical issues, and I figured you would be disappointed. So I came to see if there was anything I could do to help…”

Pol raised both his eyebrows at that, quickly relating her words about ‘that’s what a girlfriend does’ with regards to Lorenzo to what she was offering him now. But pacing away from her, he said simply, “I don’t know. I’m tired and agitated at this point.”

“We could watch a movie, or football or something? Would that make you feel better?”

Eying Eliza for the longest time, Pol finally nodded, telling her, “Let me get in more comfortable clothes and we can watch whatever football is on…so at least you’ll be able to understand what’s going on.”

Laughing softly, Eliza told him, “You assume that I understand football. All I know about it is that there’s a ball, hit with feet, and that people fall down a lot.”

Laughing himself at the last bit, Pol retorted, “Yeah, people tend to fall down a bit…easily…in football. It’s one of those things.”

“At least when you guys fall, it’s not because someone blew on you or something.”

Again, Pol laughed and this time wandered off to his bedroom to change into shorts and a t-shirt, coming back out and settling on the couch and waiting to see what Eliza would do. To say he was more than surprised when she settled down beside him and nuzzled his neck would be an understatement. Quietly nuzzling her back, he felt himself relax almost immediately, taking comfort in her closeness.

Reaching for the back of his neck, Eliza gave it a gentle squeeze, her light touch trying to soothe and comfort him. In response, Pol leaned in closer to Eliza, resting his head on her shoulder and just sighing quietly. “It’ll be better in Aragon.” She whispered to him.

Closing his eyes and just staying cuddled close, Pol asked her quietly, “Would you like to stay in my coach in Aragon? Would make it easier for when you need or want to talk a break from your sketches, you can just holler at me and we can take walks or a ride like the one we did earlier this weekend.”

Tilting her head thoughtfully at him, Eliza nodded after a moment, telling him, “That would be more convenient. How comfortable is this couch to sleep on?”

“Very according to my Mama. So you should be quite comfortable, and even better for you, you don’t have to worry about me stealing the sheets from you.”

Giggling at that, Eliza squeezed the back of Pol’s neck again, smiling quietly when he leaned up into her touch.


	54. Care

When Pol arrived in his motorcoach in Aragon, he wasn’t all that surprised to find that Eliza was already there, given that she had traveled with Marc, Alex, and their crews. He was however surprised to find her passed out on his couch, seemingly mumbling under her breath to herself.

“Hey sweetheart…everything ok?” He questioned as he approached her, finding that her eyes drew open slightly but didn’t appear all that focused.

“Feel…not…good.” Eliza mumbled in his direction, tossing and turning slightly on the couch in an obvious effort to try and get comfortable.

“Was it from the traveling, or something you ate, or you just not feeling right?” Pol asked her as he placed his hand on her forehead, eyes widening astronomically at feeling the heat resonating from her skin. “Sweetheart, you’re burning up…do you think you can walk with me to Clinica?”

Shaking her head just slightly, Eliza nonetheless tried to push herself up into a seated position, wobbling the entire while, well her eyes tried to focus on Pol. “Dizzy.” She told him, rocking back and forth a bit from her mostly seated position, looking like she might topple over at any second.

Moving back to open the door to his coach, Pol then went back to Eliza, scooping her up in his arms and telling her softly, “Just rest sweetheart, I’ve got you. I’m going to make sure you get taken care of.”

Wrapping her arms loosely around his neck, Eliza’s head rested against Pol’s shoulder, her eyes fluttering shut again and her body going mostly slack against his.

Trying not to get overly concerned, Pol kicked shut his door once they were outside of it and carried her straight to Clinica, kicking on their door with his foot to get someone to open it. Upon bringing her inside and explaining she was burning up, they put her in a room off to the side, checking her temperature and finding it to be 39.4. When they couldn’t get much in the way of answers from her, the ran a needle into her elbow and fed her fluids that way.

Sitting next to her and just watching her rest, Pol lightly stroked her hair, trying to keep it off her forehead and keep her comforted. At one point, she drew her eyes open and turned in his direction, focusing briefly on him and he assured her quietly, “I’m here. I’ll take care of you. Just rest.”

Eliza’s eyes closed again on his words and she shivered slightly, leading the guys at Clinica to cover her with an air blanket. Every now and again she’d open her eyes and gaze around the room, periodically locking eyes with Pol before her eyes drifted shut again.

Grabbing Eliza’s hand and giving it a light squeeze, Pol was pleased when she squeezed back, showing at least some awareness of what was going on around her with that. When they finally finished the first unit of fluids, they instructed Pol to take her back to his coach, let her rest, and just keep monitoring her temperature.

So with someone holding the door open for him, he carried her back to his coach, carefully setting her on his feet when they reached the door and making sure she was leaning against him so he could open things up and get them inside. A few moments later they were inside and he repeated the ‘standing and balancing’ routine so that he could open up the couch so she could properly lay down.

Once Pol got her situated in the couch-bed, she curled up as though she was snuggling around him or Eina and gazed at him once more, holding his gaze for a moment before mumble-whispering to him, “Love you, Polyccio.”

Even if he wanted to question if she really meant it or if it was just the fever talking, he couldn’t because soon enough she had passed back out again, drifting into a restless sleep.

~*~

He’d watched with jealous eyes as Eliza be carried off by Pol, and sometime later, them reversing the path, and him obviously carrying her back to his coach or another. 

In soft Spanish though, he was questioned, “What are you so interested in out there, and why does it have your attention so?”

Blushing, almost ashamed to admit it to her, Jorge told Nuria. “My ex-girlfriend, being carried around by her ex-boyfriend. I don’t like it.”

Gazing at him thoughtfully, she asked, “What is it for you to like or not? You have me, I have you, yes? She didn’t even come to check on you after your wreck last week…if she’s moved on, is time for you to as well.”

Giving her a sad but loving smile, he told her, “My girl, that one walked away so I could have you. It took me awhile to feel the pain, the jealousy, because I was wrapped up in you. So now I do have some regrets – in how I let her end it, mostly, but not in the end result. You’re my girl, my amor.”

Leaning up to kiss him softly, Nuria whispered against his lips, “Then let her have her love to, amor.”

Not entirely sure he was ready to do that yet, Jorge nonetheless nodded his head at her, curling her into his arms and holding her close.

~*~

By the next day, Eliza was still suffering from the fever, but seemed more aware, more involved with her surroundings. Which was good because since Pol couldn’t watch her all day, he’d asked his Mama to do so instead. She was sleeping in Aleix and Laura’s coach since Pol’s was currently occupied, but when babyboy came asking her to watch over the girl, she came running.

“How are you feeling?” His mother asked in Catalan, and both Pol and Eliza shook their hands at the same time, both answering,

“English” “Spanish”

Off Pol’s surprised look at her answer of Spanish, Eliza focused on him, concentrating being telling him in slow, uncertain Spanish, “Lessons in Lugano. I’m not fluent, but I’m much better than I was.”

“I am ok with the English if that is easier on you,” His Mama said and Eliza nodded her head at her.

“Less brain power needed for me to string words together that should make sense. I hope.”

“You’re making sense just fine, sweetheart.” Pol told her, going to her and kissing her forehead gently. “You’re still burning up though, so rest and let Mama get you whatever you might need. I’ve got Ricky getting you Alex’s cell phone number so you and him can text and you can work, and your sketchpad and portfolio are right next to the couch you’re in.”

“Thank you for taking such good care of me.” Eliza murmured, a long, exaggerated yawn sliding from her lips as she said so, and he just chuckled at her as she peered back at him, “Meant it.”

“I know you did. Just looked cute with the lion sized yawn, I’ve seen Scott do that before…”

“Scott?”

“My sister’s cat.” Nodding her head once more, Eliza tried to climb to her feet, but both Pol and his Mama gently pushed her back down again. “Unless you need to bathroom, you stay here, Mama has you covered.”

Blushing by orders of magnitude of ten, Eliza admitted rather softly, “I’m a bit hungry, but my stomach feels off. So I’m not so sure what I can handle.”

“Say no more.” Smiled Mama Villa. “I’ll pull a recipe from the secret Mama’s cookbook and you’ll feel better.”

“She’s right.” Pol confirmed. “Anyways, I need to run off to practice now, promise me you’ll rest!” And kissing her forehead again, Pol bounced out the door, leaving the two women together, both looking after him fondly as he left.


	55. Bruises

It looked like the Espargaro brothers were going to finish back-to-back in Japan, Aleix ahead of what was sure to be a disappointed Pol in 12th place when the screen suddenly showed Pol losing places on the track. After a few more moments they showed him wobbling to his feet, looking like he was struggling to keep his footing.

Almost immediately, Eliza reached for Alex’s hand, making a low whimpering noise that had him wrapping his arms around her and trying to pull her out of view but she shook her head and resisted, telling him. “Replay, I need to see the replay…”

But instead of showing a replay, the coverage cut back to the leaders, back to Dani’s utter domination of the race, and making another whimpering noise, Eliza pulled away from Alex, taking off out the back of the garage and sprinting towards the Tech3 garages.

Nervously entering, because there was nothing in her passes or attire that really welcomed her there, Eliza glanced around with wide eyes, finally spotting someone from one of the teams and went to him, asking simply, “Polyccio?”

The man eyed her and her apparel for several moments before finally tell her in Spanish, “Went to Clinica. Probably is still there.”

Shivering a bit at the thought of him being in Clinica, that his incident necessitated that, Eliza offered the man a thanks in gratitude then took off in the direction of Clinica, bursting inside and staring around with still wide eyes, looking for Pol. Finally spotting the familiar green and yellow boots beneath a curtain, Eliza edged over there, cautiously pulling the curtain back to find a slightly more with it Pol sitting on one of the tables. “Oh Polyccio…” She said softly, reaching out to drag her fingers along his cheek.

“I’m okay, sweetheart,” He assured her, even as he winced slightly while getting poked and prodded by the Clinica staff. “Nothing broken, just lots of bruises coming up soon. And no watching the crash, it looks a lot worse than it was. Because I’m okay, see?”

Eyeing him a bit suspiciously, Eliza kept running her fingers along his face, asking him softly, “If you’re so ok, why don’t you want me watching the replay?”

“Because it’s an ugly looking wreck. I slide down my side hard enough to make sparks, rolled and was thisclose…” And he held his fingers barely apart, “To hitting the ARMCO barrier. Probably knocked some sense into me, but otherwise the worst part of that was not finishing the race, even though we weren’t running that good.”

“I’m staying with you.” Eliza told him as she looked over his destroyed leathers, even knowing he would have to do his team debrief among other things.

If Pol thought about protesting, he elected not to, just leaning into Eliza’s hand and telling her softly, “it’s all going to be okay, sweetheart. I’ll probably take advantage of warm bath tonight before tomorrow morning’s flights, but other than that, this isn’t too out of the ordinary.”

“I watched you struggle to get to your feet.” Eliza replied matter-of-factually.

“Yeah well, wrecking at 315 km/h tends to take a little bit out of you, no matter how good of shape you’re in. I really am ok…”

Making a small little hrmphing noise, Eliza moved forward to kiss Pol’s forehead, mumbling at him, “Still staying with you.”

~*~

After they’d arrived back together at Pol’s hotel room, Eliza let Pol prep a bath for himself while she went down to the hotel store and purchased tiger balm, pretty much planning on massaging it into everywhere on Pol’s sides, hips, and lower back, to try and ease his discomfort. When she came back up, she put the balm beside the bed then headed into the bathroom, only mildly uncomfortable at knowing he was in the nude. Still, she sat beside the tub, running her fingers through her hair and asking him softly, “Tub helping any?”

“A little bit. Still very achy and sore.” He admitted with a sigh, as Eliza ruffled the hair at the back of his neck tenderly.

“Don’t worry, when you get out of here, we’ll get you into that bed and I’ll give you a massage to make you feel better. I picked up some balm that should ease the soreness.”

But in the meanwhile they sat, quietly talking about nothing in particular with just Eliza keeping Pol company, her hand never stopping moving from through his hair. Eventually he told her, “I’m going to get up … would you mind getting me a towel?”

Shyly, Eliza did just that, not quite looking at Pol’s naked body when she handed the towel over, even though there was ample opportunity to do so. Following him back into the room, she watched as he threw boxers on and then laid stomach first onto the bed, making a grumbly little sighing noise as he tried to get comfortable.

And once Pol was as close to comfortable as he was going to get, Eliza opened the tiger balm, grateful that Pol didn’t seem to have any scrapes, just lots of redder than normal irritated skin that would probably turn into some degree of bruising at some point. So everywhere she saw red she applied the balm, carefully working it into his skin as he made little growly noises, the noise so soft and cute that Eliza couldn’t help but find it endearing.

Eventually Pol indicated that she’d done enough and he rolled back over, pulling the sheets up over his hips in one swift motion then tugging lightly on Eliza, whispering to her, “Stay with me, tonight…”

She didn’t even question it, she simply gave him a quick kiss, then moved to strip down to her t-shirt and panties, climbing in beside him and curling up as close as they ever had.

~*~

Unbeknownst to Eliza, during the night, Pol had gotten up to jerk off, too turned on by her massage to be able to do anything but, and not wanting to take a cold shower and wash off the tiger balm. They both had direct flights to Melbourne in the late morning, and he probably would need more of that balm before they flew.

They slept in for quite a bit all considering, Eliza staying curled right up close to Pol’s side like he’d never left at all that night, and her arm draped across his shoulder just like she always used to. It was so comfortable and familiar that it made Pol’s heart hurt a bit to think it could just be a temporary, one-off thing, that by the time they got to Phillip Island that she’d be back in her own bed and not at his side.

But when she finally drew her eyes open, Pol kissed her nose, asking her softly, “Good morning, sweetheart…sleep well?”

“I did,” she confirmed. “My second favorite cuddle buddy makes for an awesome sleeping partner.” And they both blushed at her words, Eliza perhaps more fiercely than Pol.

Not saying anything for several moments, not wanting to break the mood, Pol eventually told her, “We need to finish packing and check out so we can head to the airport, catch our respective flights.”

“Yeah, and I need to put more of that tiger balm on you so that you’re at least somewhat comfortable on that flight.”

Nodding his head and slowly edging away from her, Pol rose to his feet, stretching his arms over his head and wincing a bit before turning in her direction, asking, “Mind if you do that now?”

“Sure,” She answered, grabbing the balm and moving to stand behind him, using one hand to hold the container, and the other to apply the balm everywhere he was starting to bruise. She finished by pushing his boxers down a bit to be able to get the top of his ass, not missing the fact that pushing the boxers downward was a bit of a challenge because of his raging hard on. Putting the balm aside, and using the hand that had held the container, she reached around him and traced her fingers lightly over his length, feeling his entire body jerk against hers.

“Oh god, please don’t tease, sweetheart…” And so she wrapped her hand around his length, stroking him evenly but firmly, feeling his body quiver and shake with her movements, moving closer to him to kiss along his shoulder blades as she kept the pressure up, hearing him warn her, “Close…”

And though part of her was nervous about what she was doing, and what it might mean for them, the other part just wanted to bring him pleasure so she stroked harder until he was making a mess over the bed, gasping and calling out her name as she brought him to completion. “I’ve got you,” She whispered to him as she brought her hand back to her own mouth and licked it clean, feeling him tremble once more at the absolute filthiness of her actions.

“You do, you do, God, you do.” He whispered back, eventually turning around to capture her lips, nipping on her lower lip and pulling it through his teeth before his tongue was seeking entrance and they were marauding around each other’s mouths, learning each other all over again.

Eventually Eliza pulled back and gave him an extremely shy little smile, telling him, “I need to get dressed and finish getting packed. You do too. And then it’s off to the airport for those lovely long flights.”

“I’ll miss you on my flight.” Pol whispered honestly to her and she gave him that same extremely shy smile in return.

~*~

Sitting in her business class seat with Alex beside her, it had taken the better part of the flight for her to persuade him to hand over his laptop so that she could watch through the replays of the wrecks that had occurred in Japan – though obviously only one in particular interested her.

Finally, he did hand it over and with him point out how she could watch that clip alone, she went at it, gasping loudly at seeing Pol tumbling like a sack of potatoes down the circuit, as he had said, narrowly missing the ARMCO and in fact looking like he hit it briefly, long enough to dislodge a shoulder guard. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks and Alex just looked at her and went, “And this is why I didn’t want to show you…”

Sighing, but not maliciously, Alex tugged her closer so that her head was resting on his shoulder, the same silent tears sliding down her cheeks. It took her a good 15 minutes before she even dared tried to speak and all she could say to Alex was “I could have lost him. I could have lost him…”

“Does that mean he’s yours again?” Alex asked her softly and Eliza bit her lower lip, eventually just giving him a small shrug.

“I don’t know. I know how I feel, but I know I’m scared. I don’t want to ever be back in that place I was when he broke up with me and then let Carlota attack me…if not for Ricky…” And Eliza trailed off, not wanting to put into words how close she’d been to just letting herself go.

“Sounds like you and him need to have a talk. Preferably before you talk with your hands or other parts of your body…” And when Eliza just blushed profusely, Alex laughed a little bit and teased, “Too late for that already, ya? No doubt of the attraction then…”

“No, definitely no doubt of the attraction. I spent the night curled up against him in sleep. And even if he did steal the covers, it was the most comfortable I’ve been in a long time at night. He made me feel as protected as you and Thumper do…”

Rubbing the back of her neck, Alex just gave her an easy smile at that.

_Meanwhile, on another plane…_

“I don’t know what to do with her,” Pol whispered to his brother and sister-in-law in soft Catalan, trying to avoid anyone else in their first class seats overhearing their conversation. “I love her. I think she loves me. But I’m not sure she’s ready to ‘be’ with me again…”

“As long as by ‘be’ with you, you don’t mean the way that finds you both in bed wearing only smiles.” Laura teased, and when Pol went crimson, her eyebrows roofed. “Oh really. I wouldn’t have expected that out of Eliza at this point…”

“It wasn’t like that, not really, but she did…touch…me this morning. After massaging the tiger balm in.”

“Couldn’t control yourself, little brother?” Aleix teased, and Pol promptly elbowed him.

“You get a massage over your hips and ass from someone you adore and you see how under control _you_ are,” Pol retorted as Laura just laughed at them both.

“Either way boys, it sounds like the more important thing you need to be worrying about is having a conversation with her, figuring out what her intentions are, and where things stand with you two.”

“I’m not sure they stand anywhere.” Pol said in soft, sad voice and Laura almost immediately swatted him upside his head. “Hey!”

“She love you, you idiot. Everything else outside of that will work its way out. Just keep giving it time and be patient. Didn’t I tell you this months ago?”

Pol’s only retort was to stick his tongue out at her.


	56. Girlfriend

They arrived in Melbourne both just as time crossed into the next day, and Pol was waiting for Eliza when her plane de-boarded. Smiling at her, he offered her his hand, and that was how they walked through the airport – tucked against each other’s sides, hands tightly clasped.

If Marc and his crew thought about wolf-whistling, they decided against it, and they all went through customs together, with Eliza resisting the urge to try to claim the hot Spaniard with her, under the guise he wouldn’t fit into her luggage.

Some hour later, they were all settled in their hotel room but still wide awake, sitting on opposite beds and just gazing at each other. “I think we need to talk,” They finally blurted at the same time, and then bursting into simultaneous giggles at the craziness of it all.

Biting his lower lip slightly, Pol asked her if a soft voice, “Do you need to sit over there for this conversation, or could you come...closer?”

“I guess that depends on how this conversation goes. What are you wanting from me Polyccio? What are you expecting from me right now?”

“What I want? In a perfect world? You as my girlfriend again. My ‘I don’t care who knows or sees us, fuck the world I love you’ girlfriend. I’d expect, but the reality of that is it’s more a hope, or maybe even a dream, that you’d feel the same way about me…”

Tears sprang to the corner of her eyes at his words and for an instant Pol was afraid he’d said too much, but Eliza whispered to him, “I love you too, Pol. I think I want you as my boyfriend…but you’ve got me afraid. The last time I trusted that level of commitment from you, you destroyed me. More than you probably even realized. It’s only because of Ricky that I’m still breathing right now…”

Pol looked up at her with wide, scared eyes, but moved to sit on her bed with her, taking her hand in his own and asking in the same whisper soft voice she’d used, “Wha-a-at do you mean?”

Squeezing his hand, clinging to it almost as though it was a life raft, Eliza closed her eyes and told Pol, “I gave you all of me, everything I could possibly give, and you threw me away like trash, like I was unlovable, undeserving of such a relationship…” Shaking her head slightly, she took a few breaths before continuing, not seeing the tears start to track down Pol’s face as she spoke. “Without you, I lost all will to live. I didn’t eat, I didn’t drink…Ricky did his best, but then seeing you two at the class, and you not even acknowledging anything about me at all…and Carlota…” and she just trailed off, her nose a big ball of snot by that point from all of her sniffling.

“I s-s-saw you and Ricky…” Pol told her, and Eliza opened her eyes again to just stare into Pol’s, complete confusion in her own. “You were lying together, forehead to forehead, feet to feet…like you’d already moved one.”

Still staring at Pol, Eliza finally told him, “If you hadn’t fallen off your bike, I’d be thumping you right now. Are you forgetting that Ricky is VERY gay? Very anti-boobies? Likes dick in ways and places I’d rather not be thinking about right now?”

Face falling and acknowledging the obvious truth to her words, Pol whispered, “I was jealous. Scared. I was clinging to the Carlota nonsense and trying to make the best of what I knew deep down was a very bad situation and I just fucked everything else up royally. I let you go. I let you go and I’m not even sure I deserve you back…”

Taking a deep breath at that, Eliza tentatively reached a hand out to stroke Pol’s face, managing the trace of a smile when he leaned into her touch. Shifting so that they ended up leaning forehead to forehead, Eliza closed her eyes again, telling him, “I want you to be my boyfriend. But it’s not going to be the same as it was before. It’s going to take time for me to believe you really do want me, and aren’t just going to dump me at the first opportunity again…”

“I’ll prove it to you.” Pol told her softly, determinedly, adding after a moment. “If it takes the rest of my days, I’ll prove myself to you.” And he leaned forward, tentatively giving her a soft kiss, relaxing into it when she responded in kind, just losing himself to her for the moment.

“I love you. And I will fix us. But in the meanwhile…will you be my girlfriend again?”

It was that infinite moment that seemed to last forever before Eliza whispered, “I will.”

~*~

After finally getting some sleep – together, sharing a bed and being cuddled up with Pol of course stealing the sheets – Pol and Eliza made the joint decision to explore Melbourne together, knowing that she at least would need to find an art shop to stop at. Besides needing to restock her pencils, Eliza also needed a larger canvas for Dani’s victory piece, and she had one in mind that she hoped would take his breath away.

And so the pair wandered around downtown Melbourne, Eliza’s hand remaining firmly encased in Pol’s, and her head often on his shoulder as well, especially when they stopped in front of random storefronts to peek inside. Eventually they hit up a large art supply store, one that was well stocked enough that Eliza was downright giddy with happiness at the selection she had. Again she had new colors available to her as opposed to what she could order in from Spain, and she took advantage, spending more on pencils (and the canvas) then Pol thought her capable of.

Rather than cart her supplies around all day, they ducked briefly back into the hotel and left the items in the room, Pol deciding to mostly let Eliza choose the course of action for the day. “Can we hit a museum or something?” She asked him, a vibrant, happy smile on her face.

“Whatever your heart desires, sweetheart.”

Tapping him lightly on the nose, Eliza chided Pol softly, telling him, “Don’t agree just because I want to, go because you want to, as well. I don’t want you ending up feeling like time was wasted or you regretted how time was spent because you felt obligated to humor my interests…”

Licking the fingertip that tapped his nose, Pol retorted softly, “Just because I’m not graphically inclined like you doesn’t mean I don’t have an appreciation for the arts. Though mine tends more towards musical appreciation then graphical; That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy both…”

Giggling and wiping off the fingertip he licked onto his own shirt, Eliza conceded his point, murmuring, “True, true. Just don’t want you bored out of your mind.”

“Well, knowing your love of museums, I checked to make sure the National Gallery of Victoria was open and running tours and they are, so I figured we’d end up heading that way.”

Throwing her arms around his neck, Eliza just giggled at him, pressing a kiss to his lips tenderly before telling him happily, “Let’s go!”

~*~

After their extensive museum trip, Eliza and Pol had wandered around Melbourne, taking transit randomly and just getting off and exploring wherever they landed. But when it came to looking for the best ice cream to settle their hungry stomachs, they were almost universally directed to a place called Jock’s, located in the Albert Park section of town. And so they took public transport that way, both of their eyes widening at the simply maddening amount and variety of ice cream available at the shop.

Having spent a good 10 minutes looking around, Eliza finally opted for a cup of chocolate walnut espresso praline, while Pol went for a more traditional pistachio. Still holding hands at least briefly when the exited the store, the found a bench to sit on and eat together, Pol almost immediately sticking his finger in his ice cream and doting her nose with it.

“Fresh!” Eliza laughed as her tongue swung out to try and reach the spot, to no avail, and eventually she wiped it off with her own fingers, sticking them in her mouth and determining, “Not bad…” Digging into her ice cream she made a purr of delight and then offered Pol a spoonful, saying, “Taste?”

He took the spoonful and tried it but almost immediately made a face, shaking his head and saying, “Not my style, nope nope. That expresso…yowza!”

“That’s what makes it good.” Eliza teased him, running a fingertip along his thigh before going back eating her ice cream while Pol gave her a bit of a darkened eye side-eye for her touch. Settling her head back on Pol’s shoulder though, Eliza just continued to eat, eyes drifting shut without a care in the world.

Eventually they both finished their ice cream and decided to head back to the hotel, if nothing else to see about booking a proper dinner for later in the evening. But as Pol scrolled through his phone and notifications he said, “Hello, what’s this?” And showing the screen to Eliza, she found an Instagram of the two of them sharing their ice cream and smiling at each other, captioned “@PolEspargaro and …? Enjoying the ice cream at @jocksicecream.”

Blowing Eliza a kiss, and before she could even comprehend what he was doing, Pol reposted the image, adding his own caption.

@PolEspargaro repost “@PolEspargaro and …? Enjoying the ice cream at @jocksicecream.”

_That’s me and my sweetheart @ElizaCArt. She had horrible taste in ice cream but fantastic taste in boyfriends!_

Blushing when the notification popped up on her own phone, Eliza side-eyed Pol. “I never realized you followed my Instagram account.”

Smirking at her a bit, Pol told her, “It’s the only way to see what you’re working on. It’s actually what gave me some hope for us before you agreed to stay with me in Aragon, even. You had posted a picture of a sketch you were doing of Eina…One I haven’t seen the completed version of yet, but that you were drawing her gave me hope…”

Chuckling softly, Eliza responded, “That’s because it never got finished. Ricky started tickling me, I giggled and woke Eina up, and she took over the couch and prime cuddling position. And my sketch pad was on the floor so that was it for sketching for the day!”

“Maybe sometime you’ll finish that one for me?” Pol asked her shyly.

“Definitely,” Eliza said with a grin. “When we get back home, I’ll borrow your dog and get right on that.”

“Or you could just move in with me.” Pol whispered as he almost choked on his own tongue at his sudden forwardness.

Raising her eyebrow at him, Eliza told him, “Let’s see how the rest of this trip goes first, and go from there.”

Some hours later when they were having dinner, Pol still couldn’t believe she hadn’t given him an outright no.


	57. Finishes

By the time Thursday rolled around, Eliza had finally finished Dani’s victory sketch, one that she was really hoping he’d enjoy. And so dressed in her Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS t-shirt, Eliza went into the Repsol Honda garage carrying her portfolio and finding Dani sitting in his chair, asked him shyly, “Are you busy? I have your sketch for you…”

Beaming up at her but eyeing the portfolio, he told her, “Never too busy for my sketch…but you don’t normally bring that with you…what gives?”

Giving Dani a shy little grin, she told him, “This one is…bigger…than your normal sketches.” And pulling it out of the portfolio she presented it to him, watching his mouth drop as he took it all in. She’d sketched his bike crossing the finish line, with his helmet down so that his special design was visible, over a background of the red and white ‘Asian Sky’ motif. But what she was especially proud of was Dani’s little samurai, hanging on for dear life from his shoulder, but grinning wickedly around his pacifier.

“Oh my god, this is amazing…you guys, come and look at this…” He called out to his crew as Eliza’s face took on a decidedly crimson hue. As the crew gathered around to look at the sketch that was almost half as big as Dani, whistles were heard all around, and Eliza heard several ‘wows’ and ‘amazings’ from the various crew guys. “I am definitely going to have this framed when I get home!”

That only served to make Eliza go even more crimson, telling him, “I’m honored you’d go to that effort.”

“I’m honored you went to this effort to make this special piece for me. You really are talented Eliza. I’m so glad that Marc showed us the sketch you did for him. You’re worth every single euro we’ve all collectively paid you!”

Eliza simply ducked her head at that, telling him shyly, “I’m just glad you like it. Polyccio was admiring it the entire time I was sketching it, so I hoped it was good, but I can never be sure.”

“You should be more confident in yourself, Eliza. You really are talented.”

Ducking her head again and moving to exit, Eliza gave Dani and his crew a shy little wave, telling them, “Good luck this weekend.” And pausing after she got a few steps she turned and added, “Drawing might not be ready for Thursday at Sepang. Depends on how much sketching I do in Bali.”

“Pffft. If you two are going to Bali, enjoy yourselves and each other. Worry about the sketches when you’re back in reality again.”

Chucking softly at his choice of words, Eliza gave Dani another shy wave and moved to head off to the Marc VDS Moto2 garage.

~*~

As the weekend progressed, Eliza grew more and more comfortable in the Tech3 garage, the fact that Pol was hugging and kissing her pretty much every time she showed up certainly helping her cause there. Him in race mode was completely different that Jorge was, she mused. Whereas Jorge would be completely in the zone and uninterruptable, Pol seemed more relaxed, more at ease with his surroundings.

When race day finally arrived, Pol persuaded Eliza to come out onto the grid – wearing one of his t-shirts, in a woman’s cut and particularly form fitting – and hang around until the race was closer to starting. As she eyed the Monster girl holding his brolly, she couldn’t help but wonder if she was one of the ones that Pol had been with, but she was determined not to ask, not to touch on that subject really until they were back in Andorra.

When it was time for her to exit the grid, she paused and waited for Laura, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze, murmuring at her, “This is so nerve-wracking.”

“I know.” Laura responded. “It never gets less nerve-wracking either.” Giving Eliza a smile and a wave, Laura headed off to the Suzuki garages, while Eliza made her way to the Tech3 garage. 

Approaching Pol’s team, and his crew chief in particular, Eliza asked, “can you point me to a good place where I can pace without disturbing you guys?” And after gazing at her for a moment, they pointed to an area near Pol’s chair, which for the time being Eliza sat in, if for no other reason than to feel closer to him. 

And when the race finally did begin, Eliza paced small circles in and around the chair, periodically looking up at the timing screens to see where Pol was, almost indifferent to the battle at the front of the pack. She knew Pol had 2 goals every race – to finish in front of Bradley, and to finish in front of his brother.

As the race progressed, Pol managed to accomplish both feats, not getting far ahead of Aleix, but far enough that 8th place was solidly his. When he brought his bike to the garage he shrugged at his team, then went to Eliza and gave her a kiss before murmuring at her, “Need to debrief sweetheart. Think you could wait for me in my room?”

When she nodded her agreement, Pol gave her one more quick kiss and Eliza headed on her way, smiling and completely content – and completely oblivious to where anyone finished in front of Pol.

~*~

While the MotoGP race was going on, Ricky and Alex were celebrating off in Marc’s ready room, utterly content that both had finished in the points. What had started with Ricky pinning Alex to the door to kiss him hard had slowly progressed to them stripping each other out of their street clothes, Ricky loudly begging Alex to fuck him.

“I’m pretty sure we have no lube in here…” Alex told him with some concern in his voice.

“I’m pretty sure you should know by now that I travel with lube in my pockets.” Ricky growled back, pointing to the pile of the clothes on the floor and giving Alex a smoldering look. Making a low growling noise in response, Alex bent over to burrow around in Ricky’s clothes and Ricky took the opportunity to smack Alex’s ass, making the younger man jump and stare over his shoulder at Ricky with his wide doe eyes. “Faster.” Ricky growled at him.

Nodding, and still shivering a bit at the sting in his ass, Alex finally found the lube and thoroughly coated two fingers, knowing that they did this often enough that Ricky wouldn’t need much loosening up, and besides, at this point he’d complain about the delay in getting fucked. Pushing both fingers inside Ricky and past the point of resistance, Alex crooked his fingers to rub up against Ricky’s prostate, feeling his lover whimper and whine at the touch. Once Alex had Ricky all but falling apart at his touch, he pulled his fingers out and quickly coated his cock, pinning Ricky back against the door and filling him in one hard, smooth thrust.

“Yesssssssssss,” Ricky hissed, muscles tightening around Alex and trying to pull him in deeper. Meanwhile, Alex bit at the back of Ricky’s neck, leaving a small chain of bite marks from one shoulder to the other. Finally feeling Ricky starting to get impatient again, Alex pulled out and thrusted deeply over and over again, angling to try and nail Ricky’s prostate with each thrust.

“You’re going to cum all over his door, aren’t you?” Alex growled in Ricky’s ear as the older man trembled, the younger reaching around to grab his lover’s neglected cock and stroke him in time with his hard, deep thrusts, feeling Ricky start to lose his mind as he did so. “Let go for me.” Alex instructed him, and with a keening wail Ricky did exactly that, thanks to Alex’s hold splattering most of his spunk on his own chest rather than Marc’s door.

With Ricky’s muscles clenched down tightly around Alex, it only took him a few more thrusts before he too was letting go, biting hard at the back of Ricky’s shoulder while he shook through his orgasm. “Fuck that was hot…” Ricky whispered at him as Alex slowly pulled away.

Turing Ricky in his arms, Alex held his lover tightly, whispering against his ear, “Love you. And I think when we go back to Andorra we should set up time to meet each other’s parents. It’s time, don’t you think?”

Nervous by the prospect, but so deep in love with Alex that he knew he owed it to him, Ricky just nodded his agreement.


	58. Bali

Arriving at their hotel in the Ubud area of Bali, Pol managed to wait until Eliza had crossed the threshold and closed the door behind her before pinning her back against it, hard body pressed against hers and darkened eyes showing her just what he wanted to do with her. But he was surprised when, in this glorious paradise they were to spend the part of the next 3 days, she pushed him away, shaking her head at him, sighing all the while.

“This is a conversation I wanted to wait ‘til Andorra…” Eliza started and Pol just looked at her, being smart enough not to approach her but wanting nothing more than to fling her on to the bed and pounce.

Biting hard on his lower lip though as she spoke, he asked, “What conversation?”

“The one where I wanted us to both get blood work and STD testing done before we did anything sexual…”

“The whaaaaaat?” Pol stared at her again, largely in disbelief, and after a moment he objected, “I used condoms!”

“And on your mouth while you were making them mindless?” And when that just stunned him into silence, she murmured, “Thought so. And Jorge never used a condom with me, and I have no idea who he might have slept with before me…”

Pol started to scowl a bit at that, muttering, “So you trusted him enough to go no condom, but you won’t let me go with one?”

“I’ve had time and experience to come to the conclusion I generally have no use for condoms. Which is fine, I’ve got an IUD, and I can’t get pregnant anyways. This one has a few more years before it has to come out.”

“This is too much to wrap my head around.” Pol finally said, head in hands and moving to flop on the bed he intended to throw Eliza down on. Sighing softly in her own right, she leaned in to kiss him, and frowned herself when he turned his face away.

“Pol please. I didn’t want to ruin our vacation with this but it’s important. I’m supposed to trust you and be with for a long time, aren’t I? I wanted to make sure there’s no reason we couldn’t be together…”

“I get this, but why now?”

And she snorted at him, but still didn’t move her face to far from his. “Because, you horny little bastard, you were going to have your way with me the second I came through the door. And I thought about just setting rules, on things we can and can’t do until we can get testing, but I wasn’t sure you’d even be open to that…”

And just staring at him, staring at his pouting face, she felt tears come to her eyes and moved to exit, moved to run off into one of the lounge chairs that bordered the room, wrapping her arms around herself because the morning warmth hadn’t quite settled in yet.

Still staring at the ceiling for another 20 minutes after she left, he eventually followed, sighing to himself that she’d left in the first place. Finding her outside, shivering in the morning cold, with no preamble or even warning, picked up he so that she squeaked, carrying her back into the room and into the bedroom, grabbing one of the sheets and pulling it up to her hips.

Eliza looked up at Pol with teary eyes through the entire process, whispering to him when he finished, “I ruined it, did I? Ruined our dream vacation…”

“We’ve got plenty of times for dreams, querida. Just…frustrated me. Because I was as upset at myself as I was at you…for both of us adults needing to do this because we did things that weren’t very smart." Gazing at her, finding her still look so tiny and lost, he added softer, “Tell me your idea for rules.”

Ducking her head down she murmured at her, “Hands only below the waist. Everything above the waist, fair game.” And adding with a deep breath but tiny voice. “Condoms only for sex.”

“Ok.” Pol whispered to her, leaning over her, sucking her lower lip though his own and kissing her, slowly but possessively, teeth clacking against hers, hand moving to sweep her hair away from her face.

Shivering, she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him until she was completely out of breath, she finally asked in that same tiny voice, “Are you sure you’re ok with it all?” 

Looking down at her he stared into her eyes, telling her in a soft but true voice, “I’d good with it all, even though I’m not sure you are.”

Trying desperately to find her inner-lioness, to send the weak sniveling version of herself away, Eliza reached for Pol’s belt loops, pulling him into her personal space and able to feel just how hard he was already and she growled at him, “I have it on your authority that I can do good things here with just my hands.”

And growling at each other back and forth, they both hoped they could find their way back from the disastrous beginning to their vacation.

~*~

Pol still wanted nothing more than to flip Eliza down onto the sheets and pound her into the next week, the unwanted and no doubt unintended memories of her and Lorenzo chasing him now, wanting to clear those out with memories of his own....

But Eliza proved to him he wasn’t alone in those thoughts, whispering to him at one point as her hands teased his cock back to life for another round, “I see you, hear you, and I still see that 6-pack of Monster girls arriving at your door, solely for the purpose of making you scream….”

“Actually, there was a red bull girl in there too,” He admitted to her, and at the look on her face he laughed a bit, and laughed even harder at her words.

“Oh, so _someone_ ordered the variety pack. I see.” But her hands kept teasing him, barely touch, just the lightest of fleeting touches, just enough to have him humping the air again. 

“You really want to fuck me this time,” she asked him as her fingers slide teasingly alongside the vein under his cock, making him tremble and try to meet those devilish blue eyes with his own, trying to figure out her intentions. But when she came up with a condom a moment or two later, there was no doubting her intent at all. Wiggling it in front of him like a matador would a bull, Eliza watched Pol’s eyes darken, his restraint slipping away in record amounts as she continued to tease. “Put you head back on the pillow.” She instructed him and he did so, watching her the entire while.

Smirking just a bit at him, she finally, mercifully tore open the condom container, made an ‘ew’ face at it, and he murmured at her, “I know, it’ll be so much better when we both know we’re clean…” Off her nod she slid the condom down in place, leaving Pol still bucking the air just as much as he had been the previous 20 minutes.

With no concerns about how wet she was and if she’d be able to do this – he’d made her scream several times already – Eliza slowly slid down his length, eyes closing momentarily and deep breaths expelling from both of their lungs. “God…I didn’t think I’d ever be this close to you again…” She whispered, staring down at him with the trace of tears in her eyes, which he reached up and wiped away, trying to reassure her without words that even though their first may have been a temporary last, this one wasn’t.

As she finally took him completely in, she drew open her eyes once more, telling him, “Put your feet flat on the bed. I want you to use that superior strength of yours to snap up into me when I’m thrusting down onto you, ok?”

Groaning at the mental picture she presented, Pol nodded reaching his hands to hold hers and allow her all the leverage she wanted. And though their movements started slowly, a slide up, a slide down, after she got into a comfortable rhythm of clenching down on him with each downward thrust, he started burying his hips back into her, the entire process making him feel like he was going deeper in her then he’d ever been in anyone before. And watching her, head thrown back, chest sticking out and bouncing around _for him_ …there was no better feeling in the world.

Faster and harder they continued their coordinated thrusts, and he knew he was growing ever closer to losing his mind, so he pulled a hand away from hers to rub against her clit, hearing her scream and feeling her tighten around him more if possible as she did. It didn’t take much more of that before she was screaming out his name loudly again, showing she was just as loud and if not more capable than those monster girls he’d been with. And he’d managed a few more hard deep thrusts before he came into the condom.

Almost immediately he set up to kiss her, but used that superior strength she’d mentioned to pull him off his cock and onto his stomach, even as she slid around a little bit. Using a hand, he removed and tied up the condom, tossing it in the bin and just closing his eyes momentarily before tugging her down on top of him, the kiss he pulled her into one more of feeling then of possessiveness or need.

“Whenever you need or want to feel me like that this week…just say the word and I’m yours…” Pol whispered to her and she nodded, finally sleepy from all their extracurricular activities. “It’s okay querida. Nap. I’ll still be right here, right like this, when you wake up.”

And with his name being mumbled happily from her lips, Eliza did drift off, happily curled against Pol’s shoulders and chest.


	59. Surfs Up

As Pol had assured her, when she’d woken up from her nap, he was still holding her close, watching her as she’d slept, and running a hand through her hair. “Buenas tardes, querida.”

“Spanish love or sweetheart. I like that.” Eliza mumbled up at him as she went to stretch her arms out over her head, being careful not to pop him in the nose while doing so. “Is it really afternoon?” She glanced towards a windows, only mildly surprised to see the sunshine gleaming in.

“Yep. Time for at least one of us to go surfing…and maybe I’ll persuade you out on the board as well.” She chuckled softly at him but moved to roll off of Pol, stretching again and moving to the bags they’d never gotten around to unpacking to burrow around, finding her black bikini and the fluorescent green cover-up she’d both acquired in Melbourne. “I will never ever get tired of seeing my colors on you…”

Turning her head back to him to grin, Eliza asked, “Possessive much?”

“Yes. Very. You’re mine and I don’t care who knows it.”

“You know I still have that black and green little lacy outfit…but it’s a bit big now…I might have to go shopping for more, ones with traces of yellow and green maybe…”

“Querida, if you do that, my head will explode. Both of them. I can assure you of that.” And giving her a wink at his cheek he came up behind her, leaning against her slightly to go burrowing for his yellow and green board shorts, and black t-shirt, even if he’d didn’t think the shirt would stay on for very long.

Eliza just giggled at him, teasing him back, “Maybe that’s my intent. Exploding both of your heads.”

Pulling her towards him with a possessive little growl, Pol nipped at Eliza’s pulse point, whispering to her afterwards, “Don’t start…I do want to go surfing today.”

Giggling more, Eliza turned to give Pol a proper kiss, smiling as he chased for another one as she pulled away from the first, and only too happy to oblige him. “Separate showers, then dressed, then beach?” She asked, and he nodded, though he looked like he might protest the separate showers until she reminded him, “You said you wanted to go surfing today.”

Grumbling but nodding, Pol watched her go, surprised and more than a bit impressed when it only took her about 5 minutes to clean off and get ready for the day, the only real difference to when she went in was that she much cleaner and her hair was secured back with the Asian sticks she’d worn for as long as he’d known her.

And while Eliza went to get dressed, Pol went and took his shower, seemingly even quicker than Eliza before him. With her watching and smiling, he pulled on the shorts and the t-shirt, and then reached for her hand, pulling her into another soft kiss that had her melting against him. “Let’s go.” She whispered against his lips. “I wanna see you surf.”

Laughing softly but making no attempts to let go of her hand, Pol led her out the hotel and down towards the pathway that would take them to the beach.

~*~

Shedding the cover up once they reached the beach, and putting it in a pile with Pol’s t-shirt, Eliza used one of the supplied beach chairs to get comfortable. She angled herself so she could watch Pol, but also so she could get some sun, something she had to be careful about as a redhead. She’d put on one of the higher SPF sunscreens she could find, a waterproof one in case Pol tried to pull her into the water. 

She didn’t know if he was good at what he was doing or not, but he seemed to be laughing and smiling and generally enjoying himself so that was all that mattered. Plus, he wasn’t often falling off, which was obviously a very good sign.

There was something deeply relaxing about watching him, she found. The repetitive motions of paddling the board out and riding it back in had Eliza getting a little drifty again, yawning slightly as she tried to avoid another nap. 

But as she yawned again, Pol noticed and he came over before his next run, telling her teasingly, “No sleeping. You’re only allowed to do that in my arms.” 

Giggling slightly, Eliza responded, “Then entertain me and keep me awake!” 

Making a tsk sound at her, he retorted, “I have been entertaining you, silly girl!” And before she realized what he was doing, he was shaking himself off like Eina, getting her all wet as well. 

Giving him a mildly dirty look though her eyes sparkled, she teased, “Funny, I thought you preferred me a different kind of wet.” And at Pol’s groan, she giggled more, especially when he promptly ran off and jumped back in the cool water again, clearly trying to eliminate any ‘situations’ she might have created with her words. 

Climbing to her feet as well, Eliza headed towards the water, jumping in and although shivering a bit, she found that the water definitely woke her up, plus she could still watch Pol. And Pol once he realized he was being watched, was totally showing off. 

He'd duck down lower, getting in a more 'professional' stance and then give Eliza the hang ten gesture, making her giggle at him again. And this time, when he floated back in close to her she splashed him lightly with the water, him laughing at her in response. 

"Think you want to try, querida?" He inquired as he beckoned the instructor over. 

"As long as I don't lose my top!" Eliza retorted with a giggle. "Or my bottoms!" 

"If this was a really private beach I'd think about that." Pol told her with a bit of a growl in his voice and she just grinned at him. 

Grabbing the surfboard she was offered the instructor showed her how to climb on and then carefully stand, leading to her falling into the water few times before she had it coordinated. 

Paddling out into the water with Pol cheering her on Eliza sucked under the wave and then shifted to ride it back in, only wobbling a few times while doing so. "Woohoo!" She exclaimed as Pol laughed at her again. 

Feeling accomplished and like she'd made Pol happy, Eliza got out of the water and headed back up to her chair, putting sunscreen back on and relaxing once more. 

~*~ 

After a day of surfing and playing in the water, Eliza and Pol were famished for dinner. Both had definitely gotten a bit of sun but at least for the time being had seemed to avoid sun burn. Still Eliza pulled the aloe out of her bag to apply to them both, Pol purring and sighing happily under her touch. 

"My turn querida," he told her after she'd coated him in the cooling substance. And under his gentle touch Eliza melted, a happy little noise escaping her throat. “It’s so tempting to have my way with you right now, but if we did, we’d never make it to dinner, would we?”

Still groaning a bit but giggling, Eliza nodded, teasing him, “And it would be all your fault, horndog.”

“I am not a horndog.” Pol huffed. “You just…do things to me.”

“Oh, I could _do things to you_ ,” Eliza said with a leer and Pol groaned again, shaking his head at her.

“Dinner first. Then I make you dessert.” Pol told her and she gave him a wink. Blowing him a kiss, Eliza fanned herself slightly to dry the aloe then went looking in her bag for the bright yellow sundress, the closest she could find to his florescent yellow, and pulling it on, she felt his eyes on her the entire while. “I’m not sure what’s more beautiful…you in that dress, or you out of it…”

Grinning at him but certainly blushing some, Eliza teased him once more. “Get dressed horndog, or we’ll never get out of here.”

Returning her grin with a pout, Pol told her, “I liked it better when you were calling me amor.”

Rolling her eyes but grinning at him, she said, “Okay **amor** let’s get a move on. I’m hungry. For food!”

And finally Pol pulled on his dress short-sleeved shirt and slacks – both in black – and took her hand, leading her out to where their private dinner would be provided.

The sunset was just starting to dip below the horizon and faintly, Eliza could hear music playing elsewhere. “Dance?” She asked Pol and he smiled wide at her, taking her into his arms.

They were still dancing, her head against his shoulder and her eyes shut, when their waiter arrived sometime later.


	60. Cracks

Sitting with Laura in Aleix’s ready room, watching the Warmup, Eliza was a walking, muttering mess. “I don’t see why they feel the need to do warmups before the races, these guys could get hurt, or worse!”

“Don’t think like that!” Laura chided as she looked up from the computer showing the warmups, and sighed at Eliza. “You’re going to pace a kilometer during this session alone!”

“I just don’t like it, it makes me uncomfortable…AHHHH!!” She exclaimed as the image on the screen had swapped to one of a very pissed off Polyccio telling Hector Barbara with his hands that he thought he needed to use his head more, both of their bikes at their feet.

“You jinxed him!”

“I did nothing of the sort…oh for fucks sake…he went surfing on that bike!” Much to Laura’s dismay, Eliza captured control of the computer from her, playing and replaying the wreck several times until she felt positive and turned back to Laura. “We’ll be in Clinica if you need us…”

“How can you be so certain?”

“He held his neck for a few split seconds before that Espargaro temper fuse ignited and then ka-BOOM!” Shaking her head, Eliza turned to her friend and mumbled, “Hopefully it’s just something minor, a kink, or a catch…I’ll catch up with you later…”

Exchanging quick hugs despite the barbs of a few minutes previous, Eliza took off in a jog towards Clinica Mobila, noting that the Warmup was still going on by the sound of the bikes on the track. Right after she arrived, so did Pol, who just stared at her in disbelief. “How’d you know I’d be here?”

“You grabbed your neck before you went all crazy Latino on Barbara.”

“Damn your eyes are good.” And biting lightly on his lip he admitted to her, “I heard something crack. I don’t know if it was in my neck, from clenching my jaw down on my mouthguard, what…” Quickly, Pol was seen, and Eliza hovered nearby, resuming her pacing again, much to this time Pol’s dismay. “I know you’re worried querida, but can you stay still? All your moving about is making me dizzy…”

“Or your head is making you dizzy,” She murmured in response, stopping in her tracks and turning to stare at him. “Surely you can’t expect to race like this.”

“I have to! I’m in 10th in points, and I’d like to stay there if at all possible.” Pol replied though not with his usual vigor; his fight must have been used up telling off Barbara. One of the Clinica doctors mentioned painkillers for the race and Eliza just stared at them all as if they were insane, not daring to voice her concerns about him falling again, but penetrating him with her eyes so he knew what she was thinking. “I’ll be fine, querida, I’ve raced in worse shape here before. You should have seen my foot, last year…”

And not wanting to cause a scene or get too angry at Pol – since the incident wasn’t his fault to begin with – Eliza just shook her head again. Instead she just moved in to kiss him hard, bending his head back just a slight bit, and enough that when they broke the kiss she heard him make a soft hissing sound. “Yeah, I thought so.” Waving her arms around to encompass the collective lot around Pol, she told them, “You’re all nuts. And if you think Latino tempers are bed, they ain’t got nothing on exploding Americans. Pardon me while I go off to work.”

Turning, she stalked out of the haulers that they used for Clinica and headed off to the Moto2 garage, pausing only long enough in Pol’s ready room to change shirts before continuing on her way, none the wiser that Pol had already warned Alex by way of Ricky that she was on her way and pissed.

~*~

“What the ever loving fuck.” Said the still clearly agitated American from the back of the Repsol Honda garage, causing everyone to turn in stare in her direction. “Please tell me I did not just see Valentino Fucking Rossi kick Marc off of his bike. Someone? Anyone?” 

But everyone was too busy scrambling around her, preparing for Marc’s return, getting the garage ready to be closed and even moving her out of the way to provide any answers.

“Alex???” She stared at the younger Marquez but all he could do was give her the Bambi eyes he was so frequently known for. “Señor Marquez??” But the senior Marquez was just growling angrily in such rapidfire Spanish that the only word Eliza was certain she heard was “joder” – fuck. “Well at least someone agrees with me.” She mumbled to herself and gave Alex a shove, finally shaking him out of his daze. “Calm your father down.”

Pacing back away from the group, looking to exit towards the back, Eliza stayed, but only long enough for Marc to arrive back, and she watched him talk with fast animated hands in obvious fury and disbelief. Eventually, he came back towards where she was still standing and spying her, gave her a brief hug, muttering to her in Spanish, “He tried to warn me. I didn’t listen…”

“Who?”

“Your ex-boyfriend. Remember? Someday has arrived. Now I’m the enemy instead of the friend.”

Ruffling Marc’s hair, she told him softly, “I’m sorry it came to this. You didn’t deserve that.”

Shaking his head, Marc carefully nudged past her and then exited through the back of the garage, heading off to his ready room to change. Meanwhile, Alex finally worked his way back to Eliza, telling her in soft English, “So much for meeting the parents this week. After that…how you say…clusterfuck? I do not think there will be any meetings. Which sucks because Mama is getting anxious to meet the significant other.”

“I take it you’ll be staying in Cervera instead?”

“Family solidarity and all of that. Maybe I invite RC down. I don’t know. If it makes sense I guess…”

Giving Alex a tight hug, she told him, “I’ll try and watch RC for you if you two have to split up for a bit, ok?”

“OK. Now you need to go change clothes and get in that other garage, no matter how upset you are that he is racing.”

Giving him a frustrated sigh, Eliza nonetheless ducked out of the back of Marc’s garage, surprised by all the flash bulbs and she snarled, “Get out of my fucking way!” to more than a few photographers, though she was unsure if they even understood her. Making her way to Pol’s ready room she changed again, then set out his clothes for post-race, having a suspicion that if he was on painkillers, he’d be drained by the end of the race.

As she ducked into Pol’s garage, the crew chief gave her a small smile and then pointed over to her designated pacing zone but she just sat in Pol’s chair and watched the screens, noting that the various techs were more animated than she would have expected them to be in a race that Pol obviously wasn’t doing that spectacular in (nor was he doing badly, he simply wasn’t running as good as his teammate).

“He is slowing down on the straights to 300 km/h. Something is not right.”

“How many laps to go are there?” Eliza asked, having been so caught up in the Rossi/Marquez incident and subsequent aftermath that she was completely oblivious to how many laps had ticked off.

“6 to go at the line.”

Standing up afterall and pacing in her designated area, Eliza watched the laps tick off until there was finally one to go at the line – it was clear that Dani was going to win, Jorge was going to tighten up the championship battle, and one way or another Valentino was likely to get punished for his incident with Marc. But of greatest concern to Eliza was the 44 bike and its rider, who finally, mercifully, came back to the box when the race ended. 

And when Pol took off his helmet, Eliza could immediately tell something was not right. He didn’t even look like he was remotely all there. “Pol…” Eliza spoke softly, but directly to him, concentrating on Spanish for the time being. “Look at me.” The command took him a moment, but when he did she could see he was clearly somewhere else. “Get him off the bike, someone help me get him to his ready room.”

“Why not take him to Clinica?”

Switching to English to answer the question posed by one of Bradley’s mechanics, Eliza growled, “Because those are the fuckheads who drugged him up like this…” Shaking her head and looking at her boyfriend with more pity than anger, she said, “I need to take care of him.”

And with some help, they were able to get Pol to his room and seated in a chair, his glazed but curious eyes watching her every move. In different times, her stripping him out of his boots and leathers would have probably made for wet dreams, but on this evening he was too strung out to even notice.

Kneeling in front of him, it took Eliza a bit to figure out the mechanics of the boots and getting them undone, but once she did she had both off in relatively short order. Next were the gloves, a bit of a trick in having to unzip the leathers first and then to be able to pull them off. Finally were the leathers themselves, to which she unzipped them as far as they would go and then instructed Pol, back in Spanish once more, “Step out of them, amor.”

Once he was clear out of the leathers, Eliza undid his undergear, and at least that was simple in comparison to everything else. Standing there naked – and surprisingly hard, she noted – Eliza carefully got him dressed again, getting him seated as well so she could pull on his socks and sneakers.

When his crew chief came in looking for him, about the time Eliza was wrapping her arm around his back and preparing to take him back to the hotel, she told him, “No debrief, I’m sorry. He’s in no condition right now to tell you what was going on out there. I’m bringing him back to the hotel, should he wake up in better mental condition I’ll be in touch with you so that you can talk.”

The crew chief sighed but nodded his understanding, and leaning heavily on Eliza, Pol lead them out to their hire car, already mentally preparing herself for the drive back to the hotel.

To say she was an unhappy camper was an understatement, but the one person she refused to take it out on, even if he perhaps deserved it the most, was the one currently relying on her for everything. For now, everything else could wait.


	61. Promises

Leading Pol carefully to the Emirates lounge, but carrying both of their carry-ons, Eliza spotted Jorge on their way inside, but wasn’t in any position to acknowledge him at that point. Pol was no longer brain drifty as he had been the previous day during the race, but Eliza was only allowing him ibuprofen on a set schedule for the pain in the neck, likely to his consternation. Once she got him somewhat comfortable and with one of those cheap airport air pillows around his neck, she climbed to her feet, heading over to where Jorge was.

The older man looked surprised to see her, no doubt especially in light of Pol’s obvious issues, but Eliza’s voice was soft, simple, and probably to Jorge, the message surprising. “I just wanted to wish you good luck in Valencia in two weeks, campeón. You’ve worked your ass off for that championship.”

Unable to muster up anything other than thank you, and cheeks no doubt going red when Eliza leaned in and kissed his cheek, she was soon on her way back to Pol, kneeling in front of him, and running her fingers along his cheek, face curling into a smile when he leaned into her. “We’ll be home soon enough.” Eliza assured him, continuing to run her fingers along his cheek and gaze at him adoringly.

Too wrapped in each other to notice anyone else’s movements, even those of a 4-time champion, Eliza and Pol just stared at each other, Pol occasionally whispering soft words to Eliza that she’d respond to in kind, always assuring him and doing her best to make his transport as pain free as possible.

Perhaps 10 minutes before their flight was to board, an Emirates attendant came over to say, “Mr. Espargaro? A word, please?”

Eliza immediately told the rep, “He’s not moving, he’s in too much pain. Please, if you have something to discuss with him, do so here.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that he needed to move, we are aware of his condition. We were only just coming over to make you aware that you’ve been upgraded to first class for both legs of your trip, and we’ll be providing you with assistance to deal with your luggage on all legs of your trip, as well.”

“Thank you.” Pol told the woman softly before gazing down at Eliza again, telling her, “I should be able to nap, or at least rest that way.”

“Good, you need it.” She retorted as her eyes locked on his, nothing but love for him visible.

When they finally did move to board, they had to pass by Jorge again, and this time with a free hand Eliza reached out and squeezed one of his shoulders on the way by, turning back at him to mouth ‘thank you’ before continuing on to the plane, whistling softly at the accommodations more money got them. As Pol settled on the bed and started working on getting comfortable, he gazed at Eliza, telling her, “He did this for you, you know.”

“That may be the case,” She responded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “But the last time he did this, it was for you.”

And Pol stared at her for a long moment before it clicked – the flight home from Sepang with Carlota and her unnecessary D&C, the care he’d shown to her that flight that now Eliza was showing to him. Shaking his head slightly, he could only mumble, “At least I really am injured…”

“It’s a good thing I love you, you idiot.” Eliza chided him, something she’d not done much of since he’d awoken that morning. “Because what you did out there wasn’t just stupid, it was dangerous. And if you’d killed yourself in the process, where would that have left me? You know I can’t live without you…”

Finally, somewhat comfortable, Pol tugged Eliza closer at her rant, whispering to her, “But none of that happened, and I’m ok and still here. And intend to be for quite some time.” And again thinking of the previous flight, he told her softly, “I want to be able to have babies with you…”

He wasn’t sure what kind of response he was expecting to that – perhaps a chide that she hadn’t even moved in yet, outright disagreement that they were too young – anything but agreement, which is exactly what he got. “We can do that. Not yet though, would make sense to time for an off-season baby, but I want a family with you, amor. My prince charming…

Shyly, and trying to gaze down at her without paining his neck, he asked, “Does that mean you’re moving in with me?”

“After Valencia,” Eliza confirmed. “I need to sort out things with Ricky and Alex, and watch Ricky later this week while Alex is dealing with whatever comes from that confrontation with Marc and Vale, but if that offer still stands, then yes, I’d love to move in with you.”

Pol could only hold Eliza tighter to his chest and smile, feeling like for the first time maybe, things had come full circle, and in a good way at that.

~*~

Despite the somewhat late hour of their arrival in Barcelona, Mama Villa was there to greet them (as well as Aleix and Laura) and tilted her head a bit as seeing Eliza arriving with her son, holding one of his hands while an Emirates rep pushed their luggage. Mama Villa released all 3 dogs simultaneously to run to their owners and while Aleix and Laura were good with their beagles, Eliza dropped down to her knees to intercept the husky puppy, muttering something good-naturedly about how she’d grown before letting her kiss at Pol’s face while he reached his left hand up to pet her.

“Mama, you remember my girlfriend, Eliza…” Pol greeted his mother as they started off towards the large SUV that would take them all to Granollers for the evening.

“I remember Eliza, yes, but not as your girlfriend!” His Mama retorted. “Tell me when this happened?!”

“Over the flyaways,” Eliza said with a smile though her Spanish was slow, Eina’s leash firmly in her hand and the dog behaving well for her as always. “We had a long talk about the past, and the future and have spent most of the trip as a couple.” 

His Mama gave her son an affectionate look, noting the young lady was doing the same and just smiled wider, glad that they’d seemingly finally worked through their differences. Yawning, and bringing his hand up slowly to the painful side of his neck, Pol told his Mama, “I’m tired and sore, Mama, can we head home?”

“Why don’t you take the front seat, Polyccio…we can sort ourselves amongst the remainder of the seats.” Eliza said, and Laura and Aleix agreed, and soon enough the married couple and their beagles occupied the third row, while Eliza and Eina occupied the second, the latter periodically trying to sniff her nose up to get the attention of her master.

It was only about a 45-minute ride form the airport to Granollers and by the time they reached there, Pol was asleep again. Shushing the rest of the group, Eliza got Eina and into the boys’ childhood home then came back to gently wake up Pol, none the wiser that all the women in his family were watching, seeing her cradle his face and lean up to capture his lips with her own, kissing him softly until his eyes drew open again and his hand was coming up to cradle her face as well.

Soon enough she was helping him to his feet, providing a human crutch to him all the while, keeping his movements slow and steady. “I think it’s time for more ibuprofen…and you’re probably ready for bed given your nap…” Pol nodded his head just slightly and let Eliza lead him inside, though he pointed out the directions they needed to go to reach his childhood room. “Cozy,” She giggled, running fingers through his hair.

“Just like how I left it.” Pol told her and despite his better efforts, could feel himself hardening at the prospect of spending the night with the girl of his dreams in his childhood bed.

“Not tonight amor,” She told him, noticing his predicament, and at his small pout she told him, “Let’s get our tests done first tomorrow, plus your MRI, and then go from there and see what you’re physically up to, ok?”

And still with a small pout, Pol again barely moved his head in a nod.

~*~

The next morning, with Eliza, Aleix, and Laura out walking the dogs, Mariona snuck in to Pol’s room, voice soft and conspiratorial. “Oh big brother I so adore…I have been doing some snooping for you…”

“Oh?” He inquired, slowly moving his neck side to side, and finding he could do so with less pain than the previous evening, a welcome relief.

“Your girlfriend, her hands are the same size at mine. I had her trying on my rings to see if she saw any she liked. She didn’t, which I expected, but now I can tell you her ring sizes…” Eyes dancing, the youngest Espargaro hopped onto the bed beside her older brother, resting her head on his shoulder.

Tilting his head just slightly down at her, Pol asked gently, “And why, dearest little sister, would I need to know her ring size or sizes at this point? We are not engaged, nor are we to be any time soon I would imagine.”

“I know silly brother. But in America they have this concept called a ‘Promise Ring’ ... it’s like a pre-engagement ring, it’s saying you’re committed to each other without quite taking the step of getting engaged. So maybe for the future or even sooner you could pick up rings like those? We could probably even run out now to go shopping if you wanted to surprise her while she’s out...”

Shaking his head a bit, he murmured at her, “I can wait. Let her move in first…she’s doing that in a few weeks…then maybe I’ll do something like that. And with sponsor appearances down here, I can always kidnap you.”

“You will surprise her big time, brother of mine, and I’m sure she’ll love it and say yes.”

Pol smiled and tried not to show it, but he always worried when it came to Eliza and anything to do with saying yes.

~*~

After his MRI revealed no further damage than just the initial small crack, Pol was cautioned to keep being careful, and to not try and take on too much force with his neck – which would of course be a problem when they raced at Valencia, but he was hoping to be in better physical condition by that point.

With that appointment done, they both went to the one at least he had been dreading, the appointment to do blood work and check for STDs. They’d told them over the phone that the STD test included a physical examination. Neither were thrilled by the prospect.

Going off into their separate rooms under the fake names of Paul and Josephine Villa, each had their separate test, with Eliza wondering why she didn’t just have them take out the IUD since her feet were already in the stirrups. But she worried that would freak Pol out, and she didn’t want to switch just yet to the birth control pill when the IUD was working just fine.

After about 30 minutes, both were done with their testing, no worse for wear but faces crimson by all the possibilities of things that could go wrong, and both could tell the coming 3-4 days would be a nightmare waiting for those results.

With everything on that end done, and no further need to stay in the Barcelona area for the time being, Eliza snagged Pol’s car and they began the 2-and-a-half-hour ride ‘home’, with Pol not saying a word about where Eliza was staying for the time being.

Eliza would never admit that she wasn’t thrilled about that either, but she knew they needed time and if she rushed in now, they’d only continue to rush their way through things.


	62. Resolutions (Part Duex)

With Ricky preparing a dinner to bring over to Marc’s Andorra house, Eliza had gone over to Pol’s to spend time with her love. He was still suffering from a sore neck, but that hadn’t stopped them from going out on a run with Eina, leaving all 3 of them huffing and puffing as a result. When they got back from their run, they noted a voice mail from the agency that did the testing, asking them to call back, which Pol did.

As he went to make the call, Eliza paced, watching him carefully and trying to get a read on what was being said on the other side of the line. When she saw him point between the two of them and then wipe his brow in a ‘phew’ gesture, Eliza’s eyes lit up and a devilish little smile crossed her face, moving over to kneel in front of where he was having the call.

With his eyes widening to almost astronomical levels, Eliza pushed down his running shorts and the boxer briefs beneath them and leaned in, giving him a long, teasing lick. To her amusement, he nearly dropped the phone, and she could hear the pace of Pol’s Spanish picking up. Reaching up to stroke his balls, it didn’t take long for Pol to harden under her touch as he just stared at her with wide eyes, clearly now trying to get off the phone.

But still Eliza teased, sucking his tip past her lips and swirling her tongue over him, purring at him when his free hand came down to stroke through her hair, and in the process sending vibrations back through him. Once he was finally off the phone call, he threw down the phone and just stared at her, voice already a throaty whisper, “Dios mio, querida, you are going to be the death of me…”

Laughing very softly around him and hearing him groan in response, Eliza took him deeper, and while she’d never quite be able to swallow around him fully thanks to a reluctant gag reflex, she could still torture him with her mouth and hands. Slowly pulling back from him and gazing up at him – and giving him a light push so that he flopped back onto the couch – Eliza murmured at him, “Just figured news like that was worth celebrating…”

“Then why don’t you climb up here onto my lap and we’ll really celebrate?” He growled as he also trembled, as Eliza continued to tease throughout their attempts at conversation.

Pulling back from him once more, Eliza gave him a deep sapphire eyed stare, then shimmied out of her shorts and panties, murmuring at him, “This more what you had in mind?”

Reaching down between her legs, Pol growled low when he found she was already wet, asking her, “That hot for me, huh?”

“Always my love, always…” She responded as she climbed up the couch and sat a bit above his cock, leaning in to kiss him hungrily but otherwise letting him take control of things from there. After a moment she felt his hands on her hips shifting her down and backwards, and in another moment still, he was buried to the hilt, causing her to break the kiss, and groan in pleasure. “You feel so good. Especially with no condom in the way…” Leaning her forehead down against his, she whispered, “I could just stay like this…”

“You might be able to but I can’t,” Pol whisper-growled in response, holding her hips steady and thrusting up into her over and over again, causing Eliza’s eyes to flutter shut and her breathing to start getting irregular. Letting her muscles tighten around him every time he was completely buried, she heard him groan in response, and in another moment, his lips were seeking hers for a hungry, possessive kiss.

She had idea how long they continued at that pace, maybe 5 minutes, maybe 10 minutes, the kisses becoming sloppier and less directed, before his forehead leaned back against hers again and he whispered, “Close, querida...soclose...” Squeezing again, Eliza tried to tighten her muscles even more if possible, and she felt him explode inside of her, shivering and still very close herself.

It took Pol a minute or so to catch his breath but once he did, he shifted her off his lap and swapped their positions, moving her to the edge of the couch as he kneeled in front of her as she had to start all of this, leaning in to get a taste of himself before attacking her clit with his mouth, having her absolutely screaming out her release a few more minutes later, just shuddering back against the couch as her eyes seeked for his.

Coming up to kiss her with both of their tastes on his mouth, Eliza tentatively wrapped her arm around Pol’s neck to pull him closer, feeling rather than hearing his small grunt that caused her to separate and lock dazed eyes on his. “Shower?” she questioned as her fingers drew down his running shirt.

“Shower.” He agreed, not even thinking about trying to carry her and just reaching for her hand to tug her off to the master suite.

~*~

Ricky had at Marc’s house for the better part of an hour preparing the full course dinner when he heard the door open, the familiar familial laughter soon filling the air. Ducking into a corner Marc had told him wouldn’t be visible when the family went by, Ricky almost panicked when he heard the brother’s mother stop and say, “Marc what smells so good, you’ve been with us the entire time, did you hire someone to cook for us?”

“Not quite!” Marc told them with a laugh, ushering them into the living room, Alex following behind and resisting his urge to duck into the kitchen to give Ricky a quick kiss.

“So then who is our cook?” Mama Alenta asked, and finally Alex took a quick breath and after a reassuring look from his brother, spoke up.

“My boyfriend.”

“Aaah! We’re finally getting to meet your boyfriend??” She asked, clapping her hands happily at that bit of news.

Ricky edged back into the kitchen proper, checking on the pa amb tomaquet – like it needed checking or something. The bread had been freshly made that morning, likewise for the tomatoes coming off the vine. Finally drizzling the oil and salt, he made his way towards the living room area, hearing Alex say as he approached, “Mama, Papa, this is my boyfriend, Ricky…”

And biting lightly on his lip before smiling at them, he extended the bread to put it on the table, turning to Alex’s parents and saying softly, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

He could see both parents analyzing him before saying anything, and while they did, Alex and came tucked up against his side, purposefully adjusting his stance to be able to do so. “How old are you, Ricky?” Papa Marquez finally asked and Ricky bit just a little bit harder on his lip.

“27 years old.” He answered.

“And you love our son?” This time it was Mama Alenta questioning.

Before Ricky could get a word in edgewise, Alex piped up with, “He better or I’ll hurt him!”

And giggling a little at that and giving Alex an affectionate look that unknowingly put the rest of the group to ease, Ricky was still staring at Alex when he said, “Very much so.” And giving Alex a soft kiss on his forehead, Ricky turned back to the group, murmuring, “Please do try the pa amb tomaquet. I made sure the bread and tomatoes were fresh.”

“You really can’t ruin that, y’know…” Alex teased him, the evil Marquez giggle filling the air and Ricky just stared at him, trying to figure out how far he dared move to react and settling for pinching his lover in the sides.

“Why don’t you follow me to the kitchen to make sure I’m not ruining the rest of the meal, then?” Ricky asked him with dark eyes, grabbing for Alex’s hand for a moment before seeming to remember where he was and dropping it just as quickly.

Going into the kitchen together, Ricky pinned Alex against the refrigerator unit, voice low against his ear, “Keep this up and I’ll make you come back to the house and _ruin me_.”

Wiggling his eyebrows and pointing to the fact that his mother had followed them into the room, Alex just grinned as Ricky went into a coughing fit – until his mother smacked him upside his head. “Alex Marquez i Alenta, you stop tormenting your boyfriend! That’s our job!” And cackling eerily reminiscent to her sons, Mama Alenta inquired, “So what is for dinner?”

“Escudellla” Ricky answered promptly, moving back to the stove to stir the stew, checking the broth before turning back to Mama Alenta. “If you guys would like to eat this now, I’d be happy to serve it up.”

Mama Alenta went off to grab the other two and Ricky just gave Alex a look like he was go going to get it later. But still between the two of them they grabbed bowls and plates from Marc’s cabinets, getting things set up around the table for everyone to be able to eat. Papa Marquez went by with no fanfare, but Marc patted Ricky on the back on his way by, a message Ricky took of quiet support – which he wished his boyfriend would give instead of teasing him relentlessly!

“We will have to invite you over to cook for us more often.” Mama Alenta spoke up as she enjoyed the courses of the Escudellla. “Your recipe is almost as good as mine.”

Grinning at that, Ricky finally calmed down a little bit. He just hoped they liked his Crema Catalana!


	63. Boundaries

By the time the weekend rolled around, Pol was feeling much better, which was good because he had a photo shoot with Marea watches to attend to. Eliza was technically not staying with him, but with Alex back with Ricky, she’d moved a few days’ worth of clothes over to his place so as not to disturb them. He’d offered her the opportunity to come to Barcelona with him, but she had declined, mentioning that she had sketches to work on to have them completed in time for Valencia.

Once Pol knew that Eliza wasn’t going he got in touch with Mariona, asking her if she wanted to go ring shopping with him, which made him nervous and excited all at the same time. He knew Eliza still struggled sometimes with his commitment to her, if he truly meant it when he said he’d be there for the long haul. And maybe a piece of jewelry wouldn’t solve everything, but he hoped it would help.

He had a hard time believing even still how easy it had been to fall back in sync with Eliza once she lowered her barriers and started to trust him some again. Conversations flowed naturally, the sex – especially now without the obstructions of condoms – was beyond fantastic...it truly felt like he, they, were completing each other.

Eliza even had him thinking babies again, something he never would have dreamed possible after the whole Carlota fiasco. But whereas with Carlota it seemed like adding a child would have created complications to an already complicated relationship, with Eliza it seemed like it would be expanding their little family, completing themselves more if that was even possible.

A baby would mean marriage, and while he was grateful he’d never proposed to Carlota, he was still terrified by the thought of doing so to Eliza. She’s said no to him so many times over the last several months while they rebuilt their relationship…what if she said no to that, too? Hell, what if she said no to the promise rings he intended to give her on her official move in?

Shaking his head for a moment, Pol requested a ‘time out’ from the photoshoot so he could get his head back on straight again, not thinking or worrying about the things he couldn’t control – for now at least. They’d already done dozens of photos and he had no idea what the quality would be like since even though he was smiling for each one, his mind was obviously completely out there.

Eventually the whole shoot wrapped up and Mariona started bouncing in the seat that they’d provided her with and Pol went over to her to give her a hug, murmuring softly in question to her, “What if she says no?”

“I don’t think she will, Polyccio. That girl loves you with all of her heart…she wants to be with you, she wants you to give her reasons to be with you…this will be a big one. What’s bigger than commitment?”

Shrugging a bit, as much because he didn’t have an answer as he was still afraid by the prospect of Eliza rejecting him, Pol let Mariona drive them off to the shops she’d researched that had rings that would work for their purposes. Pol didn’t want anything too flashy – like lots of diamonds or something that could be mistaken for an engagement ring – but at the same time he didn’t want anything that looked cheap.

But his little sister was looking out for him and understood his mindset, and at the very first shop they went into he saw the first and last set of rings he’d look at. Made of stainless steel with thin line of rose gold plating, each ring had a single, small, diamond embedded into it. And though he was convinced that these were ‘it’, he asked Mariona, “What do you think?”

She chuckled softly at him, leaning into his side to give him a hug, and telling him, “I can see that you think this is the best, so I agree, brother dear. Besides, it’s from you, and it’s from the heart. How can she not love it?”

Pol could think of plenty of ways and reasons she could not like it but he didn’t voice it and instead made his purchase, giving the boxes to Mariona to hold onto until after Valencia.

~*~

With it having been several days since the meeting of the Marquez parents, Ricky still hadn’t yet had the opportunity to ruin and punish Alex for him constantly taking the piss out of him. He’d been waiting for the right moment, and coming back from a run to find Alex already passed out in bed, ass up, was just that opportunity.

He was lucky they’d gotten back into the habit of sleeping in the nude since Eliza had been gone, Ricky mused to himself, and getting himself comfortable on the other side of the bed, Ricky brought his hand down sharply on Alex’s ass, feeling the younger immediately awaken at the sting. “What the…?”

“I warned you…” Ricky reminded him, the discussion about boundaries and appropriateness and timing one that had been had shortly after the dinner. Bringing his hand down again, Alex jumped once more, but also shivered at the touch, proof to Ricky that it was turning him on as much as it was ‘sending a lesson’.

Settling into a rhythm and grabbing for lube with his other hand, Ricky alternated strokes across Alex’s ass, then paused for a moment to coat his free hand with the lube, circling Alex’s hole possessively, reminding him that too was coming up for him. “Oh god.” Alex whispered and held tighter to the pillow he’d been sleeping on, tensing though when he felt Ricky’s finger push past the resistance and enter his hole.

“Mmmhmm.” Ricky growled at him, circling his finger around the youngers ass before pulling it out and raining a few more sharp slaps on Alex’s ass, it turning a fine shade of pink from all of the ‘abuse’ he’d taken.

“More…” Alex whispered to him, and Ricky chuckled low in response.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you liked being punished…my little Bambi.” And finally stopping with the slaps, Ricky pushed 2 fingers into Alex this time, being purposeful to avoid the younger’s prostate, and just stretching him agonizingly slowly, so that Alex was whimpering and twitching around, trying to get more stimulation in general.

“Plllllllleeeeease.” Alex whined and taking some pity on him, Ricky promptly crooked his fingers, just barely brushing against Alex’s prostate as he whined and begged for more.

“This is supposed to be punishment, not a happy fuck in the park…”

“Ooooh…would you fuck me in the park? I think I might like that…”

And for his cheek, Ricky brought his free hand cracking down over Alex’s ass again, feeling the reverberations inside with his fingers that was just barely rubbing Alex’s prostate over and over again.

“Yessssssssssssss.” Alex hissed and Ricky could only shake his head and grin, the youngster never ceasing to surprise or amaze him with his willingness to not only try new things, but just how very kinky he was. 

Pulling out his fingers with no preamble, Ricky dragged his nails over Alex’s ass cheeks, earning him another hiss, before he shifted away to get out of his shorts and then shifted back across the bed to rub his cock all over Alex’s ass, the younger again begging and whining for more. Finally moving to push his cock in, this was the point Ricky did show some care and concern, knowing Alex had no experience with getting fucked and not wanting to injure him – just issue punishment. Pushing in inch by slow inch, eventually Ricky was fully sheathed, and he purposefully ground his hips down against Alex’s raw ass, hearing the younger his into his pillow.

“Hit that spot, pleaaaaaaaaaase hit that spot.” Alex chanted over and over again until Ricky pulled out and pushed back in deep enough to nail his prostate, hearing the younger scream out his approval at Ricky’s actions. And he continued to thrust, alternating between a rough pace that brought his hips rubbing against Alex’s tender ass, and a slower, more controlled pace that found him nailing the other’s prostate.

When he could feel himself getting close he snuck his hand between the bed and his lover and grabbed the others cock, stroking him in time with his thrusts and continuing to grind himself against his ass. It wasn’t too much longer before he felt Alex’s scream out his release, his beautifully tight muscles around Ricky pulling him over almost instantly.

Panting heavily at the intensity of it all, Ricky pulled out then pulled Alex into his arms, feeling the younger curl up with his head tucked under Ricky’s chin. “God I love you.” Alex whispered to him, and smiling, Ricky stroked his hair, leaning down to kiss his forehead before whispering the words back at him softly.

“Love you too, my Bambi.”

It wasn’t until far later in the evening that they found a card waiting for them on their living room table that read:

_Dear Bambi and Thumper,_

_You kinky fuckers!_

_Kisses!_

_Eliza_

Neither knew quite how to react to that!


	64. Prince Charming

It was time to drive to Valencia and the brothers Espargaro – and their lovely ladies – were first trekking to Granollers with their dogs to drops them off with Mama Villa. Aleix was driving the first leg of the trip with Laura riding shotgun, leaving the younger lovers to curl together in the backseat, talk, cuddle, and just otherwise enjoy each other’s company.

It was something that hadn’t gone unnoticed from the older couple. Both had periodically looked in the rear view mirrors to see the 2 radiant faces, the puppy curled completely contently on Eliza’s lap, or, and the way Eliza kept resting her head against Pol’s shoulder. That had been the side of his neck that was cracked, but after rest and ibuprofen, it seemed to have recovered nicely enough that Pol was looking forward to racing on the weekend.

At one point they both started giggling over something, and when Laura looked up to question them, they both just shook their heads but grinned at each other, Eliza leaning in for a soft kiss from Pol. “Keep that up, you two, and we’ll return the favor on the ride to Valencia…we’re not too old to act like young lovers…”

And Eliza giggled again, this time threading her hand through Pol’s and saying in a voice that was more teasing than sincere, “Sorrrrrrrry.”

When they finally did arrive in Granollers, Eliza had to wake up Eina to get her to move and with her hand still firmly on the leash, she followed the dog outside of the car, stretching while Pol did the same behind her. When both of their arms came back down, his hands settled on her hips, leading her into the house, and leaning over top of her to give his Mama a kiss. “Thank you again for watching her.” He told her as Eliza reluctantly handed the leash over and then slid to tuck into Pol’s side.

Arm wrapped possessively around her hip, Pol lead her into the dining area, pointing to a seat and then settling beside her once she’d done the same, grabbing for her free hand under the table and letting out a content sigh that grew even louder when his Mama sat down sushi from their favorite local restaurant in front of them, and after a moment he pulled his hand back from Eliza as she teased him, “What? Sushi eating a two-handed job?”

“Yes.” Pol said with authority, expertly man-handling a set of chopsticks and flicking her in the nose with them before grabbing for his food and making a happy little noise.

“I see where I compete in the general scheme of things,” Eliza huffed with a big grin on her face and Pol looked at her and kissed her forehead.

“Sorry, querida, my love affair with sushi pre-dates you…”

“So you’re cheating on the sushi to be with me?”

“If you look at it that way then yes, yes I am. And I have zero regrets.” Pol told her, batting his eyelashes in her direction as she fought against all urges to giggle hysterically at him. Reaching over with her hand to steal a piece of sushi off the plate in front of him, Eliza finally did giggle when Pol’s hand with the chopstick came down on top of hers, him going, “Nu-uhh, querida. Get your own.”

Meanwhile, Papa Espargaro and Mama Villa just exchanged happy smiles. They definitely liked this pairing more than Pol’s last destructive relationship!

~*~

The ride to Valencia had been a quiet one for Pol. Eliza had slept in the front seat, turned facing him, and he periodically reached over and wiped an errant strand of hair out of her face, watching her out of the corner of his eye as the remainder of his vision remained focused on the road. They made good time to Valencia and Pol was going to carry her out of the SUV, but she surprised them all by drifting awake as the vehicle came to a stop.

“I want to learn how to do that!” Laura chirped and they all laughed, even Eliza, who went right back to curling against Pol again.

“It’s a talent…” She murmured with a small smirk, even as she stopped to stretch out a bit. Eventually they went into Pol’s coach while the other pair went into Aleix’s and Eliza just flopped on the couch and gazed in Pol’s direction as he deposited their bags in various spots. When he finally finished rearranging things he came to stand in front of Eliza, head slightly tipped waiting for her next words. “I want to pay a visit to Lorenzo. Thank him properly for his upgrade coming back from Sepang.”

“Can I come with you?” Pol asked slightly nervously and Eliza actually rolled her eyes at him before responding.

“I wouldn’t dream of going over there without you, you goofball.”

“Oh.” Pol said, feeling rather sheepish for asking until Eliza stood and kissed him breathless, making him forget all about feeling stupid and instead focusing on remembering to breathe again.

“C’mon, sexy. Let’s go get this over with.” Feeling her cuddle into his side again, Pol was a bit surprised but he wasn’t going to bring attention to it, and he just walked with Eliza as she led them over to the Lorenzo coach and then knocked on the door a few times to be sure he heard it.

And as the door finally opened by the Championship contender himself, Eliza released Pol’s hand and took a step forward, wrapping her arms around Jorge’s back, and leaning up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “J…good to see you.”

Jorge returned the gestures in kind and took Eliza by the hand, asking her in Spanish as Pol trailed behind, “Eliza, Polyccio, have you met my girl yet?”

Reaching back to grab Pol and tug him forward while at the same time leaning down to exchange kisses with the pretty girl, before offering up, “Hola, soy Eliza y este es mi novio, Polyccio.” And switching back to English momentarily, she added, “or as I prefer to call him, Prince Charming. But I don’t think there’s a translation for that.” Laughing, she pulled Pol closer to kiss his cheek, then settled for leaning against him while she switched back to Spanish once more. “We just wanted to come over and say thank you in person for upgrading those flights from Sepang.”

“Yeah, I probably could have done it myself if I’d been more there, but I was in a pain fog. Someone…” And he paused to drag his fingers along Eliza’s back as she trembled a bit before his hand settled on her hip, “Was taking good care of me though. Ibuprofen every four hours on the dot, and lots of rest.” Giving Jorge a small smile, Pol added, “But your generosity was really appreciated.”

“Slow down, speed talker.” Eliza teased, “Remember you’re talking to me here too, and I am NOT fluent.”

Rolling his eyes but doing so affectionately, Pol kissed Eliza’s cheek, murmuring at her, “I can always play translator if necessary.”

“I’m sorry my English is not well,” Nuria said shyly, and Eliza gave her a gentle smile.

“My Spanish was shit before I met J. He got me at least so I can participate in conversations more or less as long as I have a trusted translator handy.” And on that note Eliza dragged her fingers over the top of Pol’s hand, the smile on his face widening.

“I did something right!” Jorge said with a laugh and Eliza gave him a mildly reproachful look before smiling again at feeling Pol’s instantaneous light touch. “You’ll have to excuse me…nature calls.” And as Jorge headed off to the bathroom, Nuria watched him until he was out of sight before turning her attention to Eliza.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking but...why did you walk away from him?”

Taking a deep breath and looking down towards the bathroom, knowing from experience Jorge could hear nothing while in there, Eliza answered slowly, “Because you were his ideal woman. And if you were, then I wasn’t. And I couldn’t in good faith force him to stay with me if you and he belonged together. Besides, walking away from him was the best thing I could have done. It got me Polyccio back, got us back together again…”

And while Pol was nervous through the beginning parts of Eliza’s little speech, he slowly relaxed the more she spoke, grinning wide by the end of it and sliding his hand across her back again, eyes darkening a bit when she gave him an equally dark eyed side-eye.

Trying to get her shivering under control, Eliza continued, “So while he was basically ‘Mr. Right Now’, he wasn’t ‘Mr. Right’ … if that makes sense.”

“It does, thank you for answering. Not everyone in your situation would.”

Smirking a bit and again giving Pol a dark eyed stare momentarily before answering Nuria without looking at her, “Not everyone in my situation would end up getting the better end of that deal.”

And choosing that moment to come back out, Jorge wiping his hands on his jeans, he inquired, “I miss anything?”

Grinning at him, Eliza told him, “Nah, not too much, just me saying I’m pleased with how things ended up, even if it was a bit of a road to get there. Good things…or relationships…don’t come easy.”

“Unless you’ve got a really nice ex-girlfriend who lets you down easy so you can run off and pursue someone else.”

“There is that.” Eliza agreed before changing the subject on them. “So how are you feeling about this weekend?”

“Like if all my cards fall right, I can pull it off. But it’ll take maximum effort the entire weekend.”

“Good. I wish you all the best luck in the world. I know you’ve got the skill to pull it off.” Eliza told him, earning herself the rare shy Lorenzo smile in return. Feeling Pol’s hand rub across her back again and trembling just slightly, Eliza turned her attention towards Pol, eyes darkening again as soon as they locked with his, and asking, “Time for dinner with Aleix?”

Pol stared at her for all of a split second before nodding his agreement, adding, “Yeah, we should go. Was good seeing you again Jorge, nice meeting you Nuria.” And reaching for Eliza’s hand, he turned them towards the door.

Chuckling softly at his impatience, Eliza turned her head back over her shoulder and smile at Jorge and Nuria both, telling them, “I’m sure we’ll see you more as the weekend progresses. Have a good one if we don’t catch up though.” She gave them a small wave and then let Pol lead her outside, looking at him and just grinning, murmuring, “Something on your mind, sexy?”

“You. Just you. Spread out beneath me while we make love until we DO have to meet up with Aleix and Laura.”

Shivering again, Eliza let go of Pol’s hand and tucked her hand in the back pocket of his jeans possessively, letting him know he wasn’t the only one with ideas in their head.

~*~

They’d left a trail of clothes from the (locked) front door of the coach all the way to the bedroom, and as he’d requested, Eliza was spread out on the bed just waiting for him, dark eyes following Pol’s every movement around the room. She watched as he lit some candles and dimmed the lights, her eyes growing darker still with each little gesture he made.

Finally, he came closer to the bed and she reached for his boxer briefs, the only item of clothing remaining between the two of them and tugged them downward, not surprised that his cock rose to attention immediately. Smiling at him, she tugged him onto the bed with her, her hands capturing his face and kissing him slowly but possessively, needing after having been around the gorgeous Nuria to be assured that she was still his.

Laying on top of her, but making no move to push inside of her, Pol just returned the kiss with as much gusto as he could, as much reassuring to her as reassuring to himself, that she really was over Jorge and felt she was where she belonged. And her words had certainly helped – as did the constant dark-eyed looks, reminding him who she wanted to be with.

Shifting his head down off her mouth her sucked at her pressure point until a hickey formed, nipping lightly at the skin then immediately soothing it with his tongue, feeling her tremble just slightly beneath him. Once he was done with his possessive kiss, he wasn’t entirely surprised when she repeated the same motion on him, leaving behind her mark as well, showing anyone who saw that he belonged to her.

In the midst of all the kissing and marking and light touches, he slowly slid inside of her, just staying pushed to the hilt and not moving down there at least at all – just fully concentrated on reacquainting himself with her lips, her chest, every inch of skin that was exposed and ‘his’, he wanted to relearn. And while she shivered beneath him, she did nothing to pressure his movements, instead just following his lead and tracing fingertips over bare skin, remembering what touches left Pol trembling beneath her touch.

5, 10, 15, 20 minutes later…they were only just barely rocking against each other, too wrapped up in the kissing and the touching to be aware of anything else. Pol kept reassuring her over and over again – she was the one he wanted to be with, she was the one he wanted, she was the one he found attractive. And likewise, Eliza did the same for Pol, purring happily whenever she found spots that made him tremble, all about just relearning his body.

It was only when he started to soften a bit inside of her that Eliza squeezed her muscles around him, ‘waking him’ back up again, and making him groan softly, and Eliza grinned at that, kissing his lips tenderly once more, even though her lips already felt numb from all of the kissing they’d done.

Eventually they were going to need to stop – or finish – to go have dinner for real with Aleix and Laura, but for the moment, neither cared.


	65. Good

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the end of these characters, just the end of this story. I've already got parts of the next story written out in my head. So expect to see more, at some point in the future...

With his best finish of the season behind him in 5th, Pol had gone into testing excited to see what the next season would hold, and despite one off, he overall considered the sessions a success. He even finished just behind Valentino in the second session, always a good sign for a satellite rider to be riding comparable to the factory rider.

As he was coming to expect after any sort of off, Eliza wanted to examine him personally, despite the lack of need to even go to Clinica, and she definitely made it worth his while – applying tiger balm to perspective bruises, and then going down on him as an added ‘feel better’ bonus. Not like he really should have been taking the time to do that when he was supposed to be on the bike, but it was hard to resist those big blue eyes when they were looking up at him like they wanted to eat him alive.

Eliza had spent the sessions working on some sketches for Jorge – something that might have bothered Pol before the weekend, before they’d gone over to Jorge’s coach and he’d seen and felt just how much Eliza wanted and preferred him over Lorenzo. He had to admit both sketches were pretty special, even if he wasn’t the intended target – the first was of Jorge getting tossed in the air by his “4 Jorge’s”, and the second was a close up shot of the public display of affection in parc ferme between Jorge and Nuria. He was certain the older rider would appreciate both drawings a great deal.

Finally though, they were back in Andorra, with Eina, and in Pol’s pocket, the two rings that Mariona had been holding onto for him. After they finished unpacking and looked to be starting to relaxing, Pol indicated he was going to take Eina out so that she could go to the bathroom, while he really intended to slide both rings on the ‘name tag’ area of her collar.

It was hard to concentrate and do that, Pol found. His hands were shaking badly, and he’d nearly dropped both rings twice each in the process of threading them onto the collar. Finally taking an extremely deep breath when both rings were secured and Eina wasn’t able to knock them off or scuff them up, Pol lead Eina back inside, calling to Eliza, whom he knew to be in the bedroom, “Call her to you!”

And whistling first and then calling for the husky pup, Eina took off in that direction, Pol following closely behind and then stopping to lean against the door frame as Eliza said, “Hello, what’s this?” At the discovery of ‘something extra’ on Eina’s collar. Looking up at Pol with a curious expression on her face she asked Pol, “Rings?”

Nodding as he advanced into the room, Pol gave her the shyest of smiles, sitting on the edge of the bed with Eina between them and reached for the smaller of the two rings, feeling his hand shake again a little bit, but willing it steady. “My sister told me in America, you have promise rings, where one partner commits to be with just their other partner. That it’s considered a pre-engagement ring, but without the down on one knee, big romantic event…”

Meeting his eyes, her own a little bit wet at the magnitude of the gesture, Eliza asked Pol quietly, “Are you saying you’re committing to me alone, and asking me if I’ll do the same to you?”

Nodding just slightly, because he was having trouble finding his words, and Eliza’s tears were undoing him even more than he thought possible, he finally whispered to her, “Yes. I’m committing to just you alone. Will you commit to me?” And hand still shaking, he offered her the bigger of the two rings, watching as her head slowly nodded and the tears trickled down her face.

Leaning closer to kiss her tears away, Pol sat back when Eliza pushed him back slightly, her voice a little shaky as she twirled the ring in her fingers. “I only have one question for you, Polyccio...”

“What’s that, querida?”

“Which fingers do we wear them on?”

~*~

After confirming with his sister that yes, the rings were to be worn on the left ring finger – the left middle being reserved for wedding bands in Catalan culture – Pol and Eliza both put their rings on and went about their day with a little extra bounce in each of their steps.

In cleaning out the extra room that Pol used as an office, they’d discovered an incomplete sketch that Eliza had clearly started many months ago of Pol and a smaller puppy sized version of Eina, hogging all the covers on the bed. After a good “aww” at the size of Eina and a chuckle at the cover-theft caught in the act, Eliza convinced Pol to get back up on the bed to recreate the shot, which Eina was only too happy to oblige and help.

Sitting on the other side of the bed with a sketchpad beneath the started sketch, Eliza slowly continued the drawing, having to rely on memory at some points to recall what Eina’s coloring had been like at that point, as well as the length of her snout. It was a little bit of a challenge, but a good healthy one, and so far she was satisfied with the results she was creating.

“Can I open my eyes and take a peek?” Pol asked after quite a bit and Eliza initially nodded her head before realizing he wouldn’t be able to see her.

Giggling quietly to herself at the gaffe, she told them, “Of course, amor,” And when he turned in her direction, she flipped the sketch around towards him, finding Pol again shaking his head as his fingertips traced over his tiny puppy.

“I can’t believe how small she was. And she’s still not full-grown yet!” With both of them reaching over to pet up Eina she barked happily and they both chuckled. “Yes pretty girl, we’re talking about you.”

“Good thing you’ve never called me pretty girl or I might get offended by that.” Eliza teased and Pol shook his head at her, his grin wide.

“No, you have always been my sweetheart, my querida, from Day 1. Before the lies and the heartbreak and everything in between, you have always been mine, and I’ve always been yours. Even when we were separated, my heart knew that, even if the rest of me didn’t always believe it. Laura believed better than I did, I don’t know how…”

“Probably because she was one of my female confidants,” Eliza admitted to him. “So she knew how hard a time I was having getting over you, getting you out of my mind, not thinking about you in general. Even though I had Jorge, who at least thought he loved me. And maybe he did, but certainly not like he loves Nuria, or I love you. But if Laura was giving you hope I’d imagine it was because she could sense our story wasn’t over yet…”

Reaching to grab Eliza free hand and give it a squeeze, his thumb dragging over her ring, Pol just smiled at her for the longest time, finally telling her, “No querida, I think our story is only just beginning…”

~*~

It was like how things had been in the beginning – except with the addition of Alex – and the fact that Pol and Eliza were now sitting side by side in their favorite pub. Ricky looked more nervous than Eliza was used to seeing him and made a mental note to corner him at some point in the evening, especially if Alex got up to use the bathroom at any point.

The discovery of the rings had led to a number of questions, and once those questions were answered, the order of a celebratory round of drinks. Swiping the keys from Eliza’s pockets when the drinks were delivered, Pol murmured at her, “I’ll call us a cab if necessary, but you, my love, are a lightweight and there’s no way you’ll be in any shape to drive…”

Rather than argue or do anything remotely negative, Eliza simply settled her head on Pol’s shoulder, turning to kiss his cheek and whispering to him, “Thank you for always taking good care of me, amor.”

He smiled wide at that, dragging the hand with the ring along her face, and feeling her lean up into the touch.

Pol wasn’t sure what the future held for them, but he was certain it would be good.


End file.
